Shure cartridge id please

[neuralrevolt]

Casn someone please identify the cartridge in the picture for me?

It came with my TT some years ago and I know nothing about it so not sure if it's worth keeping or not.

 

[beatcomber]

Looks like an Audio Technica AT-95, probably re-badged. This is a very well regarded budget model.

 

[jrtrent]

Also looks similar to the Numark Groove Tool.
http://www.numark.com/groovetool

 

[johnjacob]

kinda looks like a old Private Label Empire (musiccraft)

 

[boreas]

It's definitely a version of the "Groove Tool". I think I once knew who actually made them but I can't dredge it up now. Shure must have offered their version as a price leader at one time.

John

 

[neuralrevolt]

Thank you, I am starting to think it's a generic case with a Shure stylus sold under who knows what name aorund here. If you do a search on the interweb for the numark groove tool you'll find a lot of pictures that all look the same but have all sorts of brand names.

They all agree it's a DJ cartridge anyway.

 

[TobascoKid]

Looks like a Sanyo cartridge. They have been around for a long time. They were standards on many of the low-cost all in ones. Also goes under the Ion, Sony, Fisher, Kenwood, and many more fine names. Built for all in ones, they are tough cartridges. They can sound quite good on high-grade turntables. Not awesome in the midrange and treble but nice enough for casual listening. I would describe them as a “sassy” sounding.

If it is the cartridge I am thinking of then the replacement styluses have always been cheap: to find one, Google “901-D7.” Under the Ion name, the styluses, ICT04, sell for $7.59 including shipping.

 

[boreas]

Thank you, I am starting to think it's a generic case with a Shure stylus sold under who knows what name aorund here. If you do a search on the interweb for the numark groove tool you'll find a lot of pictures that all look the same but have all sorts of brand names.

They all agree it's a DJ cartridge anyway.

This is almost certainly just a case of branding. Shure in all likelihood didn't make a single part of that cartridge or stylus. They just bought the things in bulk from XYZ and had their logo stamped into the stylus carrier.

Your particular cartridge may or may not be a DJ cartridge. The color if the stylus carrier is often used to distinguish between the various styli used with a particular cartridge body. The red ones, like the one on the Groove tool, are heavy tracking DJ conicals. The orange one on the Shure may or may not be but if I had to guess, it's probably is an entry level DJ cartridge. It's also fairly new since the logo is the newer one, not the older "Lightening S".

By the way, I've had the pleasure of hearing a Groove Tool on a friend's SL-1900. It isn't actually horrible.

John

 

[neuralrevolt]

It's okay, but then again, I don't have collector grade records, so don't mind, but I would like to have something better. With this one even I can tell it's not great.

 

[boreas]

Looks like a Sanyo cartridge.

Sanyo! That's right. I knew that!

Anyway, there are elliptical styli made for that as well as the conical TobascoKid mentioned. Here's a link to both.

Of course, If I were going to think about spending $30.00 for an elliptical replacement stylus for a so-so cartridge I'd have to weigh that against $37.00 for an AT-95E at Amazon.

John

 

[hakaplan]

That stylus doesn't say Shure--that logo on the front is not a Shure logo--and Shure never put its name on any stylus it didn't manufacture.

 

[Doug G.]

Howard's right.

Shure never put its name on anything not manufactured by them.

They never played the rebranding game.

Most reputable cartridge manufacturers never did and don't.

Doug

 

[mythless]

Howard's right.

Shure never put its name on anything not manufactured by them.

They never played the rebranding game.

Most reputable cartridge manufacturers never did and don't.

Doug

It doesn't look like a Shure, reminds me more of AT. But sure did sell some rebranded cartridges under the Tandy umbrella.

 

[Doug G.]

That's the opposite now, correctomundo?

I said Shure never put their brand on product not manufactured by them.

That's different than manufacturing product on which others put their brand.

Doug

 

[boreas]

That stylus doesn't say Shure--that logo on the front is not a Shure logo--and Shure never put its name on any stylus it didn't manufacture.

I'm not so sure, Howard........

Close enough for a lawsuit!

John

 

[ecluser]

Remove the stylus. If you see two magnets forming a V, at the base of the cantilever, this cartridge was made by Audio-Technica. They made cartridges for almost every manufacturer.

 

[boreas]

Remove the stylus. If you see two magnets forming a V, at the base of the cantilever, this cartridge was made by Audio-Technica. They made cartridges for almost every manufacturer.

It's not an Audio-Technica. If you look at the 360 degree rotating image at TurntableNeedles you'll see that it doesn't have the patented(?) AT magnet arrangement.

I think TabascoKid is correct that it's a Sanyo. Sanyo makes a lot of stuff for other companies.

John

 

[KentTeffeteller]

This one is the Sanyo/Numark Groove Tool/ Red Ed/ Goldring Elektra. Good budget cartridge for less than perfect records.

 

[hakaplan]

John, that was a symbol Shure used only on the M97xE, just as they used a V on the front of the V15VMR and VxMR. It is not Shure's logo and never appeared on any other Shure cartridge or in their literature.

It is a Sanyo, made by whoever made their carts--may have even been Nagaoka, who could be considered the CEC of Japanese carts.

 

[SA-708]

This one is the Sanyo/Numark Groove Tool/ Red Ed/ Goldring Elektra. Good budget cartridge for less than perfect records.

I think these are two different cartridges. The Numark Groove Tool/Ion iCT04 doesn't look much at all like the Red Ed/Goldring Elektra.