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Realistic V15 RS cartridge paired with a Pfanstiehl 4778DE stylus

ricercar

ricercar

New Member
Has anyone had a successful experience pairing a Realistic V15 RS cartridge and Pfanstiehl 4778DE stylus?

I pulled my turntable from storage, and among the debris, I ended up with two Realistic V15 RS from RadioShack: one with an original stylus and one with no stylus. I bought a Pfanstiehl 4778DE stylus from eBay from a vendor who specifically identified the V15 RS as compatible ("NEEDLE STYLUS FOR SHURE Shure N105E SHURE M105E V15-RS 4778-DE"). Yet, at installation, the 4778DE seemed to require excessive pressure to insert the cantilever into the V15 RS cartridge, so much force that I'm uncertain whether the stylus is really compatible with the innards of the cartridge. Although it sounded OK on the one album side I played, I find that I'm hesitant to touch any more vinyl with it.

Oh, great knowledgeable community, can I get a strong assurance it's OK, or a firm warning it's not OK?
 
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ricercar said:
I find that I'm hesitant to touch any more vinyl with it.
Click to expand...
you are right to feel uneasy about those cheap needles. The V15 RS is a very nice sounding cartridge and deserves a better stylus than the Pfanstiehl.

This is a much better option....

lptunes.com

JICO N97xE Nude stylus replacement for Shure N97xE stylus

JICO N97XE NUDE STYLUS FOR SHURE N97xE CARTRIDGE With a nude stylus, the solid stylus tip vibrates directly to the cantilever thus offering a more nuanced performance.
lptunes.com lptunes.com
 
if you have a tight budget, these will work...

www.lpgear.com

N99E LP Gear Upgrade stylus Japan-made for Shure 800E cartridge

Check out the deal on N99E LP Gear Upgrade stylus Japan-made for Shure 800E cartridge at LP Gear
www.lpgear.com www.lpgear.com

www.lpgear.com

N104E LP Gear Higher Qual stylus for Shure N-99E N99E stylus

Check out the deal on N104E LP Gear Higher Qual stylus for Shure N-99E N99E stylus at LP Gear
www.lpgear.com www.lpgear.com

www.lpgear.com

N92E LP Gear stylus for Shure DC60 cartridge

Check out the deal on N92E LP Gear stylus for Shure DC60 cartridge at LP Gear
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Have you looked at past AK threads? Here is one:

V15-RS stylus shopping

I have consumed probably 100 pages of information about the v15rs and i am still not 100% sure what to buy. A search on the LG gear page shows this as my only option. LP GEAR stylus for Shure V15 RS cartridge Code: SHSV15RS https://www.lpgear.com/product/SHSV15RS.html Someone on this page...
audiokarma.org
 
Yes, I scoured the past posts here and elsewhere for a few hours. I'm like that poster you referenced: "I consumed ... pages of information about the V15RS and I am still not 100% sure what to buy." I finally bought the Pfanstiehl because the manufacturer specifically calls out the V15 RS, unlike the other stylus manufacturers I've researched. I was content, but now that I have one in person, I'm wary due to the insertion force required.
 
ricercar said:
Yes, I scoured the past posts here and elsewhere for a few hours. I'm like that poster you referenced: "I consumed ... pages of information about the V15RS and I am still not 100% sure what to buy." I finally bought the Pfanstiehl because the manufacturer specifically calls out the V15 RS, unlike the other stylus manufacturers I've researched. I was content, but now that I have one in person, I'm wary due to the insertion force required.
Click to expand...
you could try crimping the brass tube of the stylus slightly to see if you can get it to insert a little easier. id honestly rather have one that was snug than loose and wiggling around.
 
ricercar said:
I finally bought the Pfanstiehl because the manufacturer specifically calls out the V15 RS
Click to expand...
Pfanstiehl, or any other low-end aftermarket supplier does not offer styli to the exact specifications of the V15 RS, they only adjust the plastic housing to fit the cartridge. They are for the most part "one design fits all" operations.
 
The v15rs is identical to the v15xmr, except that it has a hyperelliptical tip rather than a microridge. They both featured a beryllium cantilever which raised the resonant frequency of the stylus to above 20khz, thus out of the range of hearing, resulting in a flat response. An aluminum cantilever will resonate within the normal range of hearing, probably resulting in a brighter sound. They don't make be cantilevers anymore, so your best bet is to try to find a new old stock one or a used one. I have 5 of those carts and 3 original styli, but they are very rare now. Of course, you might like the brighter sound. That doesn't help with your fitment problem, however. But like I said, you can also use a v15xmr stylus if you can find one. Good luck.
 
Tstar said:
The v15rs is identical to the v15xmr, except that it has a hyperelliptical tip rather than a microridge. They both featured a beryllium cantilever which raised the resonant frequency of the stylus to above 20khz, thus out of the range of hearing, resulting in a flat response. An aluminum cantilever will resonate within the normal range of hearing, probably resulting in a brighter sound. They don't make be cantilevers anymore, so your best bet is to try to find a new old stock one or a used one. I have 5 of those carts and 3 original styli, but they are very rare now. Of course, you might like the brighter sound. That doesn't help with your fitment problem, however. But like I said, you can also use a v15xmr stylus if you can find one. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Or get a retip
 
Tstar said:
The v15rs is identical to the v15xmr, except that it has a hyperelliptical tip rather than a microridge. They both featured a beryllium cantilever which raised the resonant frequency of the stylus to above 20khz, thus out of the range of hearing, resulting in a flat response. An aluminum cantilever will resonate within the normal range of hearing, probably resulting in a brighter sound.
Click to expand...
99.9% of us mortals would never hear a difference between an aluminum and beryllium cantilever in our home systems.
 
malden said:
99.9% of us mortals would never hear a difference between an aluminum and beryllium cantilever in our home systems.
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:oops: not all of us have lost our high frequency hearing. many of these aftermarket styli with aluminum cantilevers (jico included) have a 3-4db peak in the highs that may not be present in an oem shure stylus. thats pretty audible unless youve lost your sensitivity to highs. my wife has lost her highs starting around 10k. because of that, audio technica carts that many describe as "bright" sound "dark" to her. the presence dip before the high end peak makes the music sound muffled to her compared to a flat shure.
 
malden said:
In what frequencies exactly?
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heres a sample i currently own. i usually sell stuff off and the only other jico i have other than this one is a pmount sas for the large shank carts. These are plots of an m97xe with the oem stylus and the jico bonded elliptical (the precursor stylus before the nude series came out). the jico is constructed similarly to the oem (aluminum cantilever, tie wire, bonded elliptical, damping brush) but sounds considerably different. ive got a sas/s on the way that im looking forward to checking out on the different bodies with varying inductance that i have.

Jico-
m97xe less wear.png
oem-
m97xe wear.png
 
malden said:
interesting

what do you attribute the rise in frequency to?
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im not really qualified to say as the little i know has come from gleaning the posts of dlaloum, jp, thomas a, and a handful of other technically knowledgeable contributors across the different forums. if i understand correctly though, i believe its a combination of the mechanical resonance of the cantilever and the damping, or lack thereof, in the suspension? maybe someone can explain more definitively.
 
malden said:
what equipment and software do you use?
Click to expand...
all the info on how to get this up and running is available over on audiosciencereview
www.audiosciencereview.com

Introducing the Phono Cartridge Measurement Library

Skip to the index. After years of development we are finally launching our phono cartridge measurement library. These measurements were created using the brilliant cartridge response python script, SJPlot, written by the legendary @scott wurcer and @JP. Information about its origins can be...
www.audiosciencereview.com www.audiosciencereview.com
 
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