What stylus to use
- Thread starter pjf610
- Start date
pjf610
Active Member
Hi Guys, Thanks for all the feed back i did a little testing over the past couple of hours, this is what i did, on my PL-570 I tried the Cart that was on there,( each Cart was calibrated for each test) mind you I used the same LP for testing, with the settings all flat,the shure Premier Yellow was kind of dull, the empire LTD400 no better, the AT 3600L much better than the previous 2 and the Shure HI Track M91ED definitely the best out of the bunch for the sound i like to listen to, so now i am in a conundrum, first can I get a replacement Stylus for the M91ED?? Second do i try to improve on the sound that seems for me to be very good??
Before you do anything further, if this has been a consistent problem with the Shure, make sure that you have loaded it correctly. There may be nothing wrong with it. They can be trickier than some other brands, and they vary across their product range.
For instance, in the V15vxmr, I use, the recommended loading is 250 pf paralleled with 47kohms. But in many rigs, it actually prefers a bit lower to sound its best. That's a little low in absolute terms once you start getting under 200 pf. And that's TOTAL. With some vintage tube phono stages and what wire is riding in the TA and the deck, you are sometimes only left with a margin of 100 to 150 pf to work with with that cartridge in a vintage setting. A SS phono stage may present an easier capacitance load, but you still have to watch the sum as you assemble your signal chain.
Other Shures, perhaps including yours, can tolerate up to 4-500 pf total capacitance load before the frequency response starts to seriously skew.
But few people pay attention to MM loading correctly anymore. It's not plug-and-play with everything. Tether one to an excessive capacitance cable (like a standard fat IC), and it will dull down the upper octaves on many, sometimes accompanied with a nasty bump along the response curve. Some people are loading their cartridges with 6-800 pf or more, and don't even know it . . . and then complain about the sound. Like that it's "dull". Once you are too high, it is not easy to fix without swapping out cartridges, cables and pre-amps. So start low if you can, you can always add more capacitance later.
If your deck has a hardwired set of output cables from the factory, know what their specs are, and what their load is. Then check your phono stage specs. And make sure your cartridge is within its load range. If not, then something has to be changed.
It will save you from a lot of headaches, and sometimes from wasting a lot of money, too. Proper loading is a big deal with MM cartridges, and it DOES impact the sound.
Of course, the MC snobs have few of these capacitance worries. LOL.
For instance, in the V15vxmr, I use, the recommended loading is 250 pf paralleled with 47kohms. But in many rigs, it actually prefers a bit lower to sound its best. That's a little low in absolute terms once you start getting under 200 pf. And that's TOTAL. With some vintage tube phono stages and what wire is riding in the TA and the deck, you are sometimes only left with a margin of 100 to 150 pf to work with with that cartridge in a vintage setting. A SS phono stage may present an easier capacitance load, but you still have to watch the sum as you assemble your signal chain.
Other Shures, perhaps including yours, can tolerate up to 4-500 pf total capacitance load before the frequency response starts to seriously skew.
But few people pay attention to MM loading correctly anymore. It's not plug-and-play with everything. Tether one to an excessive capacitance cable (like a standard fat IC), and it will dull down the upper octaves on many, sometimes accompanied with a nasty bump along the response curve. Some people are loading their cartridges with 6-800 pf or more, and don't even know it . . . and then complain about the sound. Like that it's "dull". Once you are too high, it is not easy to fix without swapping out cartridges, cables and pre-amps. So start low if you can, you can always add more capacitance later.
If your deck has a hardwired set of output cables from the factory, know what their specs are, and what their load is. Then check your phono stage specs. And make sure your cartridge is within its load range. If not, then something has to be changed.
It will save you from a lot of headaches, and sometimes from wasting a lot of money, too. Proper loading is a big deal with MM cartridges, and it DOES impact the sound.
Of course, the MC snobs have few of these capacitance worries. LOL.
Balifly
Listening
Since you like the Shure M91 ED the best.
It make sense to try to fine a better replacement for it.
For a fairly reasonable sum, you can make a very big improvement on the actual sound reproduction by using a finer stylus.
Get the HE - hyper elliptical stylus, very cost efficient.
https://lptunes.com/products/hyperelliptical-replacement-for-shure-n-91ed-n91ed-stylus
savatage1973
Addicted Member
Yes--that body accepts a wide variety of readily available stock AT styli, as well as aftermarket styli. Old stock of the original 440MLa/b styli are running low, but the stylus for its "replacement", the VM540ml is compatible, as well as many others.