Thanks Mark.
Your recommendation is to do what I was considering. I figured if I put the V-15 III on the table that I would go ahead and order a JICO to go on it, so I guess that's what I'll do.
Hello Jeff,
When the time comes, that you wish to purchase another new Stylus, I've found that LP Gear was reliable, and shipped very quickly. I highly recommend them as a very good USA source for the Jico Stylus replacements.
Keep in mind, that there are two top tier Jico replacements for the Shure Type III, the HE (Hyper-Elliptical) replacement, which probably identically duplicates the Shure VN35HE Stylus, and then their top of the line SAS (Super Analog Stylus), which is only another $10 in cost, and is a Line Contact-Micro Line Type Stylus, somewhat akin, to the old "Shibata" Design.
Said to be a nude, polished, octahedral shank, the SAS Stylus is mounted on a Solid Boron Rod Cantilever, and appears to be then sleeved to the remainder of either a Beryllium, or Aluminum Cantilever Shaft.
Commonly, such Styli profiles play deeper-further in the groove, are subject to less wear to both the Stylus, and the record groove itself, due to better sidewall contact, often exhibit less groove noise, typically can make even older records sound much more quiet, and like new.
The extremely thin stylus side profile, seems to as well get through the music quicker, less lag time, less bass bloat, and even seems that there is less pickup of pops, and ticks. The world's finest Moving Coils usually have such a Stylus type onboard.
In comparison to less radical Stylus profiles, these Stylus types usually have a tendency to be a bit more finnicky, and critical to proper set up, and careful attention should be paid to exacting Cartridge Alignment, to proper VTF, VTA, Anti-Skate, Azimuth Angle.
They will also have a tendency to dig out more dirt-crud from a record's grooves, since the Stylus fits so much better into the groove, and may require more attention to record cleanliness and to stylus cleanliness, and maintainence. Something that should be done anyway regardless. Mark
