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Shure V15 RS vs. Shure M97xE

X

xargos

Active Member
Okay, I have a question for those of you familiar with Shure's cartridges. Which do you think would be a better choice, replacing the stylus on a Shure V15 RS or getting a Shure M97xE? I've seen some people claim that the V15 RS isn't a true V15 series cartridge and others claim that it is. Of course the stylus for the V15 RS is no longer made, but Ed Saunders sells a hyperelliptical stylus for it.
 
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Well, I think an M97xE stylus will fit your V15 RS, so that would be cheap. You'll want to check my memory on that one though.
 
The V15 IV and older V15's use a different size housing around the stylus (the brass shaft that inserts into the cartridge body) that is too small to accept the N97xE stylus. The Type V and up WILL accept an N97xE stylus. If you RS V15 are from Era IV or older, the N97xE stylus will not fit.

EDIT: Sorry, I thought you were wanting to use the N97xE stylus on an older V15. My bad... If the cart is still good, check for a JICO replacement and just enjoy it!
 
G'day mate, yes Balifly's stylus recommendations for the V15RS are good. I also have a V15RS and yes a standard N97xE (for the M97xE) stylus fits fine on that cartridge.

It 'shure' sounds like a Shure cartridge to me!:D Regards, Felix aka catman.
 
Thanks for the info! Considering the fact that the hyperelliptical stylus from Ed Saunders doesn't cost much different from the M97xE cartridge at Amazon and JICO has suitable replacements as well, maybe I'll get the new stylus. Having not heard an M97xE, I didn't know if perhaps it was an improvement over the V15 RS.
 
Old M97 HE was the better of these. The V 15 RS is based on that cartridge which was just slightly below the V 15 Type IV then. The M 97xE is still excellent but not up to the older ones.
 
Joey1127 said:
The V15 IV and older V15's use a different size housing around the stylus (the brass shaft that inserts into the cartridge body) that is too small to accept the N97xE stylus. The Type V and up WILL accept an N97xE stylus.
Click to expand...

Incorrect. The Type V accepts the narrower shank. It is the Type Vx (as in V15VxMR) that accepts the wider shank.
 
The RS (Radio Shack's version of the VST III, a cost-reduced V15 Type V released in 1988) had a thin-wall beryllium cantilever tube (Shure called it a "shank"), which the JICO replacement won't have, though its SAS stylus (ie, the diamond) is an improvement over the RS's Hyperelliptical. If you can find an affordable NOS replacement for the RS (the VNSE3HE), that'd be better than getting an M97xE, but you'll need something to listen to while you wait for a NOS stylus to show up.
 
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Joey1127 said:
The V15 IV and older V15's use a different size housing around the stylus (the brass shaft that inserts into the cartridge body) that is too small to accept the N97xE stylus. The Type V and up WILL accept an N97xE stylus. If you RS V15 are from Era IV or older, the N97xE stylus will not fit.

EDIT: Sorry, I thought you were wanting to use the N97xE stylus on an older V15. My bad... If the cart is still good, check for a JICO replacement and just enjoy it!
Click to expand...

I was able to fit a M97xe stylus (N97xe) in a RS body perfectly. I didn't listen, though. Would that combination be superior to a stock M97xE?
 
Just a related comment.

I have the Jico N97xE-SAS and the Jico VN5xMR - and I have tested them both in the same cartridge body.

Although the cantilever and stylus are identical, tuning of the suspension and damping is different.

This results in a very different resonant profile, the 97 versions tend to have a substantial resonance between 12k and 16k (actually two resonances that overlap one at 12 and one at 16) - this reflects the setup of the OEM 97 stylus, which is intended to be used in a higher inductance cartridge body that has a high end that drops off due to the combination of high inductance and high capacitance (on the recommended manufacturer setup loading).

With the VN5xMR (V15Vx stylus) the resonances are still there at 12 & 16, but much better controlled (damped).
Which with the lower inductance of the V15Vx/V15RS and the lower OEM loading (275pf/47k) works well - the resonances don't have to compensate for a dropping electrical performance!

In theory the VN5x will therefore give better performance than the N97x needles - although either will do well if you adjust the loading to match the stylus. (or not - you might like the sound profile as is! - but it won't be giving you a flat frequency response...)

bye for now

David
 
Wow, you sure did quite a lot of work on the Shure cartridges and the SAS stylus combinations!

I have the Shure M 97HE/Realistic RXT-4 with the SAS stylus too.

For various reasons, not many users have gone back to the old Shure M 97HE.:scratch2:

Thanks again for all your on going reports on various cartridges and stylus.:thmbsp:
 
Thank you...

I will shortly have an original VN5MR stylus on loan from a very generous AK friend...

Once I have finished testing that, I will start posting all the results up on the website.... (comparatives of the various SAS Shure options, various cartridges and the original OEM)

Probably another couple of months before I get that far though!

bye for now

David
 
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