Radio Shack RXT6 aka Shure M111E

[tubes1]

It's a shame this thread has died out. I went through my parts box and found 4 Shure cartridges all without stylus which I'd like to replace and get them going. I've never listened to any them, they all came on tables that I've purchased over the years.

I'll list the carts and would appreciate recommendations on the best replacements, from what I understand reading this thread the Me97HE is the best of the bunch.

Me97HE
800E
R1000XT (Radio Shack)
Premier Black

 

[Vinylmasters]

>

I've also looked at making the cart active. It would be low inductance with
a state of the art balanced pre amp built in. This wouldn't cost all that much,
and would allow moving coil like high frequency performance using just a line input. Noise and distortion would be almost unmeasurable. Do you think
and active design would fly? Tube enthusiasts might not like it...But I can give MUCH better performance by not using the standard 47k phono inputs.
I'd like your opinion.

Les

Revisiting an old thread and came across this.... Les, if you are still around these parts - I LOVE this idea personally. Why has no one tackled this - and especially in this day and age of receivers and amps not having turntable inputs!

 

[BassLake]

The Jico N97HE I received for my RXT6 was quite loose until the last few mm when it barely snugged in. I used a bit of Blu Tack to hold it in place. While it sounds very good I can't help but wonder if the azimuth is off. FWIW I put a mirror under the cartridge and by eyeballing it the front appears to be level. Is there another Jico HE or SAS that's known to fit the RXT6 cartridge body properly?

 

[Vinylmasters]

I've had an RXT4, three RXT5's and two RXT6's. Still have all except the RXT4. Love them truthfully. I use a N97xe on them and they just sing.....

 

[Decibel_116]

I've had an RXT4, three RXT5's and two RXT6's. Still have all except the RXT4. Love them truthfully. I use a N97xe on them and they just sing.....

I have used the N97xe stylus on several of the old p-mounts. Specifically, the RXT5, RXT6, 1000e, and M92e with excellent results. I am considering getting a JICO SAS N97xe stylus and trying it on the 1000e and the M92e. Jico makes an SAS specifically for the M92e, but it does not have the brush.

 

[wualta]

The Jico N97HE I received for my RXT6 was quite loose until the last few mm when it barely snugged in. ... Is there another Jico HE or SAS that's known to fit the RXT6 cartridge body properly?

Short answer: no. The bodies for the M97, RXT6 and the other non-V15 V-bottom cartridges are all assumed to be the same. What fits one should fit another, and there are no special shank sizes as there are, say, piston sizes for rebuilding car engines. It's the luck of the draw.

Unfortunately, most of us have some Shure styli whose shanks are just slightly larger than normal and some aftermarket styli whose shanks are slightly smaller. You can try bending some of the pole pieces inside the cartridge or bend the sheet metal of the shank outward to make it fit more tightly, but there's risk involved in this, so I can't recommend it. The blutack gambit seems safest and should do the job, assuming you've written JICO about the problem and they've offered no solutions.
.

 

[BassLake]

Jico's response was as follows, "We do not carry any cartridge-specific styli for the RXT6. Various resources on the internet suggest that the N97HE and even the N97xE styli will fit, although officially we do no support these combinations as compatible. I will add your request for an RXT6 stylus in hyper-elliptical or SAS configuration to our database. If there is enough interest we may consider producing one in the future."

 

[2channel*]

Did we ever determine exactly what the hell a Shure V15 RS is? A M111 with a ML140 cantilever and an HE or MR tip? I like the sound of mine; but if I wanted to move up...Where exactly would up begin?

 

[dmsheehan]

Did we ever determine exactly what the hell a Shure V15 RS is? A M111 with a ML140 cantilever and an HE or MR tip? I like the sound of mine; but if I wanted to move up...Where exactly would up begin?

tardy reply here but I will unequivocally state the the V15RS is an excellent cartridge. It will take an n97he , n97he SAS, vn5xmr, vn5xmr sas and I guess any of the "wide shank" Shure styli. I absolutely love mine with the VN5xMR SAS or NEO SAS.

 

[2channel*]

tardy reply here but I will unequivocally state the the V15RS is an excellent cartridge. It will take an n97he , n97he SAS, vn5xmr, vn5xmr sas and I guess any of the "wide shank" Shure styli. I absolutely love mine with the VN5xMR SAS or NEO SAS.

Love mine, too. How does the NEO compare to the previous SAS?

 

[malden]

tardy reply here but I will unequivocally state the the V15RS is an excellent cartridge. It will take an n97he , n97he SAS, vn5xmr, vn5xmr sas and I guess any of the "wide shank" Shure styli. I absolutely love mine with the VN5xMR SAS or NEO SAS.

Can you post a photo of your cartridge with the N97HE stylus attached?

 

[dmsheehan]

I will post photos here....also wanted to mention that the n97he will also fit into an RXT6..a VST iii-p....an M97...and the V15RS....as well as a bunch of other wide shank Shure cartridges. This M97he was purchased off TTN recently....it is not a NOS stylus, but it sounds great. I also have a VN5xmr SAS stylus that I use as the default stylus on this cart. Running a VN5XMR neo sas hg in a VST iii-p cartridge (p-mount) with a technics sh-80s headshell. If you can get a hold of one of these headshells you should scoop it up immediately. They are amazing for p-mount cartridges being used on a standard pivot tone arm. Took me a long time to find one, but it was worth the wait. The Neo SAS hg is still breaking in. It has wonderful detail, execellent separation and soundstage, but is a little bright right now. It is toning down and becoming sweeter the more that I play it. Is it worth 267 bucks as opposed to the price that I payed for my old vn5xmr SAS stylus? Not sure...I am thinking no....but the alternatives are not that appealing. Hoping they may drop the price. It's a great stylus....still suffering a bit from the sticker shock....it is much better than the N97he that I paid 139 dollars for on TTN. You can get the the N97he from Jico for 96 dollars plus shipping. Photos are the v15rs with an m97he and a vn5xmr SAS styulus.

 

[malden]

The reason I asked to see a photo is because the original Shure N97 series (ED, HE, G, etc.) would not fit the V15 RS. It looks like the manufacturer took some liberties with naming the stylus. It probably should have been named N97xHE to indicate the updated stylus grip. Nit-picky, I know.....

 

[Gretsch6120]

The original replacement stylus for the V15 RS is the VNSE3HE- (same as used in the Shure VST-III)- which is pretty much impossible to find. The N111E and N111HE are also a perfect fit- you just don't get the Beryllium cantilever found on the original.