Shure Cartridge Showdown

J

Josey

New Member
Seeking experienced advice. I have a lineup of four different Shure/Realistic cartridges. I checked them all with a meter and each measures properly and pretty evenly in each channel. However they all need a new stylus. I don’t think it’s necessary to keep all four cartridges and I can’t afford to buy a new stylus for each in order to A/B them against one another. Was hoping you guys could help me narrow it down to 1 maybe 2 cartridges to keep based on sound quality and stylus replacement value. If it helps I’ll be using these on a Realistic LAB-400 turntable, through a Realistic STA-2080 receiver, and a pair of Realistic Mach One speakers. Input is appreciated.
Cartridges consist of the following:

Shure/Realistic R1000E
Shure/Realistic R1000ED
Shure/Realistic RXT6
Shure/Realistic V15 RS

9B7C58AD-D311-42E8-B99A-D08A291344B8

9B7C58AD-D311-42E8-B99A-D08A291344B8

  • Media owner Josey
  • Date added
  • Comments 1
 
Register to hide this ad
The two R1000 models are the same. The E is a bonded elliptical stylus, the ED is a nude elliptical. Once you change the stylus though, none of that matters. Looks like one has a good nail and the other is bent, so the non-bent one is the winner here.
 
gadget73 said:
The two R1000 models are the same. The E is a bonded elliptical stylus, the ED is a nude elliptical. Once you change the stylus though, none of that matters. Looks like one has a good nail and the other is bent, so the non-bent one is the winner here.
Click to expand...
Haha! The 1000ED currently has a Shure R8X stylus. Still looks good to the naked eye but I figure it might be a good idea to go ahead a replace it. I tried to install the R8X on the 1000E but it didn't seem like it would take it and I didn't want to force it. Maybe I just didn't have it lined up properly.

The 1000ED was the cartridge & head shell that was installed on the turntable when I bought everything. The rest of these these were in a box of audio gear that came with everything that I bought at an estate sale.
 
Josey said:
Haha! The 1000ED currently has a Shure R8X stylus. Still looks good to the naked eye but I figure it might be a good idea to go ahead a replace it. I tried to install the R8X on the 1000E but it didn't seem like it would take it and I didn't want to force it. Maybe I just didn't have it lined up properly.

The 1000ED was the cartridge & head shell that was installed on the turntable when I bought everything. The rest of these these were in a box of audio gear that came with everything that I bought at an estate sale.
Click to expand...


hm, maybe they changed the plastic shell on the Realistic version a bit then. Shure made multiple models with this same generator, the difference was mostly in the plastic around it. Some were shaped so that only certain family of stylii would fit. On the Shures at least you can just look at them and see that its different.
 
One911Guy said:
Not to hijack this thread but how does one "meter check" a cartridge?
Click to expand...
I just did a quick check to see if both channels were reading relatively close to one another and none of them had a “dead” reading. It’s just a simple way to check if the cartridge is any good or not. There are YouTube videos that can walk you through it.
 
Blackdog61 said:
Looks like the V15 is nothing special.
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/shure-realistic-v15-rs-what-type-v15.246665/
Click to expand...

The V15 RS was very special – it had a beryllium tube stylus and nude HE stylus, so was far superior to any M-series or R-series Shures, particularly in trackability. It was the same body as the V15VxMR, but with a nude HE line contact tip, and a slightly thicker beryllium tube meaning slightly worse trackability. It was also known as the V15 Pro-S (OEM version sold at Circuit City) or the Ultra VST-III. You could upgrade it with the VNVXMR stylus from the V15VxMR.

The only Shures which were superior to the V15 RS were the Ultra 500, V15 Type V and V-MR, Ultra VST-V, Ultra 400, ML140HE (all models with laminated cores, beryllium cantilevers and damped brushes), and quite a way behind due to its solid core, the V15VxMR.
 
I believe the Type IV also has a laminated core. Anyhow - that is the one I have with a couple really nice Jico stylus' (Boron and Sapphire) - it is pretty much my favorite cartridge - when I want to buy something fancy - I think about how great the Shure sounds and I just stick with it.
 
KT88Lvr said:
I believe the Type IV also has a laminated core. Anyhow - that is the one I have with a couple really nice Jico stylus' (Boron and Sapphire) - it is pretty much my favorite cartridge - when I want to buy something fancy - I think about how great the Shure sounds and I just stick with it.
Click to expand...

It does, and so does the Type III. However, their aluminium cantilevers were approximately 50% heavier (roughly), which compromised tracking. With a Jico SAS it should be pretty good, and presumably have lower moving mass than the original stylus, if still slightly heavier than the beryllium tube cantilevers, which are all around 0.2mg or less tip mass.
 
The rxt6 may be too tall for your arm. The v15rs will take an n92e, sc35c, n70e, n95ed, r3-9x, n97ed/he as well as many others without modification. The internals are the same as an sc35c cartridge. Original stylus for the v15rs was a .2x3 hyperelliptical on a beryllium cantilever. If you could find one of those you'd have something. The r1000 need high capacitance to sound best, the rxt6 and v15rs don't as they have low inductance coils. 425mH for the v15rs
 
oldman54 said:
The rxt6 may be too tall for your arm. The v15rs will take an n92e, sc35c, n70e, n95ed, r3-9x, n97ed/he as well as many others without modification. The internals are the same as an sc35c cartridge. Original stylus for the v15rs was a .2x3 hyperelliptical on a beryllium cantilever. If you could find one of those you'd have something. The r1000 need high capacitance to sound best, the rxt6 and v15rs don't as they have low inductance coils. 425mH for the v15rs
Click to expand...
Just to be sure, I dug out my v15rs and played a few sides with an n92e. Very nice. Tomorrow my 6XVL, good times. Or maybe my n97gd, hmmm
 
The LAB-400 came with the M91/R1000 cartridge to begin with. I gave my son a LAB-400 with that cartridge. It sounds pretty nice. I almost kept the Turntable.
I agree, you can't go wrong with the R1000.
 
One911Guy said:
Not to hijack this thread but how does one "meter check" a cartridge?
Click to expand...

Using a multimeter on a resistance or Ohm setting you touch the leads to each side in turn (red to green, white to blue) and find out if the 2 sides measure approximately the same. A typical good or normal reading might be 695 ohms on one side and 700 on the other, though depending on the cartridge could be be 300 ohms or so to well over a thousand. If one side (or both) shows no reading there is a broken wire inside and the cartridge is dead.
 
Last edited:
Ah, 0 Ohm would be a short circuit. No Ohm reading (infinite resistance) would be a broken coil. This is what I measured at my then two years old V15 V MR :( and an Audio Technica AT13EAV.
 
pretty unusual for a cartridge to short. Open circuit I can definitely see but I'm not sure what would have to happen to short the coil out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom