Shure Phono Cartridges

[malden]

I might dismiss it as internet lore myself if I didn't own an actual copy. I have over 40 different cartridges, and as I mentioned upthread, it is the only one with open channels. Given its reputation, that's not mere coincidence.

you own one actual copy that went bad, I have a Sumiko with a bad channel, it happens

I'm glad to know you've had better luck, but your experience doesn't erase mine, nor that of the others with similar experiences. It is what it is, and probably the reason Shure exited the phono cartridge market.

it's not about "luck". It's about actual experience.

I have over 40 years experience collecting Shure cartridges, new and used. I have had only one Shure cartridge with a bad channel, a SC35C Made in the USA

 

[ripblade]

If you bought 3 and they all worked, what does that have to do with 'experience'? Is there some trick to making sure you buy a good one?

I have over 40 years experience collecting Shure cartridges, new and used. I have had only one Shure cartridge with a bad channel, a SC35C Made in the USA

So you have a dud, too lol.

 

[tubeactive]

While we all lament the passing of original Shure phono items, we should not need to compete or argue...Please...

Fortunately, among the serious collectors, there are some original Shure and Stanton/Pickering goodies still to be procured or traded. Judging from the AK Bartertown ads, the originals are being offered, every now and then.

The crowd here is so much nicer to deal with than the impersonal epay and online hustlers...

 

[loudnoises]

As someone who regularly searches for said styli, i will confirm there is indeed still a supply of oem shure styli available in most flavors. The fancy cuts are harder to find, but nobody is retipping shures.

Genuine Stanton styli however are not nearly as plentiful. Lighter trackers are very hard to come by. Stereohedron are heels teeth, possibly rarer. Retipping is often a cost effective solution. You're looking at $200 for an acceptable jico. (Heck the last genuine d6800eee I saw sold for almost 2x that and within minutes of posting.)

 

[mke246]

not true at all, they have been made in Mexico since the 1980's and would not have survived through 2018 with a "hit and miss" reputation


Shure would never have lasted through the 2018 with a 30% junk rate, this is just more nonsense that permeates these forums


keep guessing, , others will guess as well, that's how these things go online. Soon enough, it will no longer be a "guess" but will become a "fact" that others will repeat as well.

I should clarify that that probably extends to only the later-dated-production stuff. I could easily produce my email chains with Expert Stylus showing that around six (iirc) of the 20 NOS SS35C I sent in for retipping were faulty. If you look on ebay, a friend is trying to sell his 'b-stock' SS35Cs, too, probably from the same late production runs. Far from a myth with the late-production stuff. The earlier stuff seems to be more reliable, but I've still run into problems buying them on eBay and then dealing with sellers when they show up with skewed cantilevers and I try to return them. "But it works fine on my equipment!" I've gotten blacklisted by at least one dealer due to my high standards.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

I only have three M97xE cartridges, they are all excellent, no "QC" issues. I also have quite a few more from the same era, none of them have any issues whatsoever.

M92E, M35X, M44GX, SC35C

the M35X, M44GX & SC35C were marketed as DJ cartridges. Whenever any of these get mentioned online, they are immediately dismissed by many because of the association with DJ'ing and yet none of these commenters have any direct experience with them.

That's just the nature of these online forums, if enough people say the same thing, it becomes the mantra of many more.

I purchased the M97xE when new, I went through 3 of these cartridges with issues. All had a channel missing. The 4th replacement from Shure was trouble free (and Shure customer service was friendly and prompt). I have experience with M35X cartridges in broadcast use (and less but some experience with the SC35C) but never any defects. The M35X I liked best of the two. The M44GX I never adopted in broadcast engineering.

 

[Thorsten R.]

I purchased a M97xE, one of the last, new. I nearly never used it. Recently I mounted it in my Lenco L78 with original tonearm. With the damper down - astonishingly good! The only Shure that dropped ever a channel was - my bought new V15V MR. After two years.
I have "inherited" an M44 with my Dual 1019. As the stylus was shot I purchased a new nude synthetical conical Jico (the version in transparent blue, the sharper one). I don´t like it But - I have never experienced a conical stylus I like. Neither from Shure, nor from Ortofon, even ADC couldn´t satisfy me. I happen to like sharp ellipticals. Like my NOS M95ED.

 

[lini]

(...) I suspect that Shure's decision to back out of the cartridge market was in part due to the unwarranted complaints and return of perfectly good cartridges

In part, maybe. But the damaged reputation definitely can't be blamed on newbie user error only. For example, I remember also chatting a bit on the phone with one of the Thakker guys (Mr. Engels, iirc) in the late 00s, when I wanted to order some stuff from them - and in that conversation he told me, that they just had to return a whole batch of M97xEs, which they had found to be defective, and that this wasn't their first case of Shure carts/needles with quality problems.

To be fair, though, quality problems can happen with other manufacturers, too. For example, in one of the last production runs of the AT150MLX there apparently was a problem with the glue-on mounting of the tips, so that quite a few exemplars would suffer from dropped diamonds.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[ripblade]

...or the Ortofon 2M with the pins falling out...

 

[Lux Man]

Shure was my/our best and largest customer. Absolutely wonderful people and work environment. They are privately owned so the only pressure there was on quality. Cartridges are just too low in cost to make it worth their while. As someone else said - they wouldn't let someone use their name, too much to protect.