Opinions on Ortofon M15 Super?

[Decibel_116]

I recently acquired this nice little stylus for my old Ortofon cartridge. This will fit on my old F15 VMS series cartridge which currently has an FF15E stylus on it and sounds excellent. I have no knowledge of this particular model so I picked it up out of curiosity. Anyone have any experience with these?

 

[Decibel_116]

Nobody?

 

[BrocLuno]

Not many that I know of run the older square bodies. It'll take a while to get responses ...

 

[lini]

dB: Earliest higher class Ortofon MI, as far as I remember - should be about as good as the later M20E Super, VMS20E(II) et cetera, just still with 15° VTA...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[danj]

I owned one many years ago - 1979ish or early '80s - and remember it as a great cartridge. Wouldn't mind having one again.

 

[jmchrislip]

I own one and also a VMS 20EII. To my ears, the sound is identical. In the 70's it was the TOTL MM or MI (?) cartridge. Retailed for about $90.00 IIRC and the VMS 20E was $65.00. I purchased the VMS 20E in the mid 70's and it blew away every other cartridge I tried. Ortofon makes excellent cartridges. They really know their stuff.

 

[melofelo]

I have one also but have yet to install it. It was pretty well respected in its day . I think the m15 stylus is specific to the m15 body though .My memory is hazy but i think the f and ff series might use a different magnet placement arrangement to the m15e super, so combining that stylus with an F body might give low output or other sonic issues.
I seem to remember there is a subtle difference in the shape of the fitting lug between the vms and m15 stylus also. perhaps to avoid mixing the two. I could be wrong though , i'm someone here will chime in with more info..

 

[melofelo]

post number 7 in this thread has some info regarding the stylus and body compatibility..
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/ortfon-m15e-super.131513/

 

[Balifly]

Some "new" replacement stylus fits both, read this a recent post somewhere.

Have not personally verified this ......

 

[SoundsAlike]

I recently acquired this nice little stylus for my old Ortofon cartridge. This will fit on my old F15 VMS series cartridge which currently has an FF15E stylus on it and sounds excellent. I have no knowledge of this particular model so I picked it up out of curiosity. Anyone have any experience with these?View attachment 722800

I have used an M15e Super for years and years, I kept finding NOS for it and kept on using the cart. Someone just bought the TT I currently had it mounted on and they gave me an offer for the whole kit I couldnt refuse. If I didn't have a P-mount Technics SL-M3 then I would've kept the M15e Super.

It's a very pleasing cartridge, tracks EXCELLENT, diamond quality is also excellent. The only downside is NOS stylesus are rare. The generic styluses do not compare -- they're less dynamic and overall lower output

 

[Decibel_116]

If what I just read is true, this new stylus will not work on the cartridge I have. I will have to actually try it to confirm. The M15 Super has the magnet in the stylus and the F15 has the magnet in the cartridge. I don't see any magnet in the M15 Super stylus, but that doesn't mean it isn't there. I will have to update this thread after I try it maybe this weekend. I really do like this cartridge.

 

[daveg3588]

Have a M20e, very nice cartridge, recently got a replacement stylus from LP gear, sound is very good.

 

[twiiii]

I have been using Ortofons from the early 60 till just recently when I switched to Dynavector HO. That said I was using Ortofons Moving coils when the M-15 was around. I thought it didn'thave the quality I was looking for, it sounded more like a Stanton thana MC Ortofon. The bass wasn't as firm and the midrange was a little to forward. That said it would track better than the MC of the time, but not nearly as well as Stantons and Shures. (680 series or V-15's.)