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PL-550 with a V15 type IV?

C_Little

C_Little

New Member
I've owned a PL-550 for several years now that came fitted with a Shure V15 type II cartridge. It's always sounded amazing, so when I looked into upgrading recently and came across a V15 type IV for a great price, I snatched it up, knowing that they have a great reputation. I have a new JIco SAS on the way to go with it. It never even occurred to me that the V15 type IV may be too high of compliance for my tonearm, since the other cart has always worked and sounded great. I checked my tracking force with my scale and I'm only tracking at .6 grams with my V15 type II. Is the V15 type IV a mistake? Opinions?
 
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C_Little said:
I've owned a PL-550 for several years now that came fitted with a Shure V15 type II cartridge. It's always sounded amazing, so when I looked into upgrading recently and came across a V15 type IV for a great price, I snatched it up, knowing that they have a great reputation. I have a new JIco SAS on the way to go with it. It never even occurred to me that the V15 type IV may be too high of compliance for my tonearm, since the other cart has always worked and sounded great. I checked my tracking force with my scale and I'm only tracking at .6 grams with my V15 type II. Is the V15 type IV a mistake? Opinions?
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Welcome to the AK turn table forum.

Pioneer has the several turn table using the same model number/s.

Do you have the following Pioneer PL-550 ? :idea:
https://www.vinylengine.com/library/pioneer/pl-550.shtml
182934-counterweight_for_pioneer_pl550.jpg
 
No, not really. The "Dynamic Stabilizer" (brush) on the V15/IV should make things good. I run mine on a low/mid mass Technics arm at 1.5g with the brush down. It's one of my favorites. On the Shure Era IV Audio Obstacle Course tonearm resonance test it never hits a resonance peak, meaning the peak is somewhere above 12Hz.

John
 
In my opinion, 0.6 grams is too light for any cartridge. It's best to be in the middle to high end of the recommended range so the stylus is fully in the groove and not riding too high.
 
jeffpaletz said:
In my opinion, 0.6 grams is too light for any cartridge. It's best to be in the middle to high end of the recommended range so the stylus is fully in the groove and not riding too high.
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After doing a little research, that's what I was thinking. Honestly, it always sounded good to me, so I just left it where the original owner had it. I just adjusted the tracking force and anti-skate to 1.1 grams. Interested to see if I can hear a difference.
 
jeffpaletz said:
In my opinion, 0.6 grams is too light for any cartridge. It's best to be in the middle to high end of the recommended range so the stylus is fully in the groove and not riding too high.
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It's certainly lighter than Shures recommendation of 0.75g to 1.5g. Running a stylus at too light a VTF is actually more damaging to your records than running it at too high a VTF because it allows the stylus to bounce around in the groove.

John
 
boreas said:
No, not really. The "Dynamic Stabilizer" (brush) on the V15/IV should make things good. I run mine on a low/mid mass Technics arm at 1.5g with the brush down. It's one of my favorites. On the Shure Era IV Audio Obstacle Course tonearm resonance test it never hits a resonance peak, meaning the peak is somewhere above 12Hz.

John
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That is good to know. I'm feeling a little better about it now. Also, look at what I just remembered I had. Should be interesting to do some tests with the type II vs the type IV.
 

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Good! The resonance test, last track on side 2, is a very good tool. The rest is of more or less marginally useful.

John
 
I run my Type IV at 1 gram with the original stylus and 1.25 with a JICO VN45HE.

Are you gauging your weight with a gram scale or the calibration on the counter weight?
 
911s55 said:
I run my Type IV at 1 gram with the original stylus and 1.25 with a JICO VN45HE.

Are you gauging your weight with a gram scale or the calibration on the counter weight?
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I'm guessing your question was addressed to me so I'll answer it. I always set VTF with a scale because it's quicker but several times, to satisfy my own curiosity, I've set the VTF by first zero balancing the tonearm and then verifying it with the scale. It was always accurate.

On your own V15/IV are you using the brush? The recommended tracking force for the V15/IV is 0.75g to 1.25g plus 0.5 g additional with the brush down. So, the recommended tracking force with brush is from 1.25g to 1.75g so 1.0g with brush is too light and 1.0g without the brush is equivalent to where I'm setting mine.

John
 
boreas
Actually I was addressing the original poster regarding the tracking weight mainly due to the low number he stated. Currently I am running brush up with the JICO at 1.25, sounds superb BTW on my Yamaha YP-800.
 
911s55 said:
boreas
Actually I was addressing the original poster regarding the tracking weight mainly due to the low number he stated. Currently I am running brush up with the JICO at 1.25, sounds superb BTW on my Yamaha YP-800.
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I just barely acquired a stylus scale this week. Obviously, I was running it too light. I adjusted it this evening up to 1.15 grams. On a side note though, the numbers on the counter weight seem to be spot on with the scale. As soon as the new Jico SAS arrives I'll set it to 1.5 and give it a go.
 
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My new Jico SAS arrived a few days ago, and wow! It sounds great. I also love the stabilizing brush. It seems to make a big difference. Albums now seem to play with very little needle noise. I have it set to 1.5 grams with the brush down, and all seems to be going well.
 
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