Shure S320 & R1000xt

[Zach Nelson]

I have these 2 laying around and am wondering if getting stylus for them is worth my time. What's the story behind them? I have found some info on the r1000xt but very little info on the s320

 

[wualta]

You've already likely discovered that the R1000XT is a special Radio Shack derivative of the Shure M95 that Shure marketed in the '90s as the ME95ED. The Shure stylus is NE95ED, aka NDC-ED, also Pfanstiehl index 774-DED-- but also -DEJ and -DHE, the latter with performance virtually identical to the M95HE if you can find the HE stylus, and finding that would be a pretty deep rabbit hole these days.

The S320? Seems it's another R1000XT/ME95ED/EJ/HE, but with cosmetic differences that show it to be part of a house-brand family called Designer Series.

 

[Zach Nelson]

You've already likely discovered that the R1000XT is a special Radio Shack derivative of the Shure M95 that Shure marketed in the '90s as the ME95ED. The Shure stylus is NE95ED, aka NDC-ED, also Pfanstiehl index 774-DED-- but also -DEJ and -DHE, the latter with performance virtually identical to the M95HE if you can find the HE stylus, and finding that would be a pretty deep rabbit hole these days.

The S320? Seems it's another R1000XT/ME95ED/EJ/HE, but with cosmetic differences that show it to be part of a house-brand family called Designer Series.
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Thanks! That's pretty much what I was gathering but there are so many different "Shure" model numbers that I started to get confused. So you think sonically, they are the same cart, just different look? Like a Sierra and a Silverado

 

[Wolfie62]

Both are very nice sounding carts, if fitted with a good stylus.

I’m having good results with the Black Diamond nude styli. Very nice for $40.

The Shure Tracer and the Realistic 1000 are different body styles, same engine under the hood.

Extreme right, and bottom center.

 

[wualta]

...So you think sonically, they are the same cart, just different look? Like a Sierra and a Silverado

You've got it. Under a dizzying variety of different plastic mounting caps is the same metal body shell that originated with the M95 in the mid '70s. One stylus that I like to put in Shure bodies with restrictive mounting caps is the generic version of Shure's N97LT, which was originally a Hyperelliptical but in generic form is nearly always an elliptical.

Can be found online at auction sites for less than $25. But there are several other possibilities.

 

[Wolfie62]

Kyowa makes a good sounding stylus also. $20.