Jack Harrison
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- Joined
- Mar 1, 2023
- Messages
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- 102
All the Shure V15s from the type III onwards were exceptional cartridges, along with the Ultra range, both in measurement and quality of sound and the tracking ability of their stylii, beryllium cantilevers, microline stylii, etc. they could compete with anything anyone is producing today, and still do, with a JICO stylus for instance.Well, by now you should realize that the quality in any audio gear, but particularly in transducers, does not increase linearly with increasing price. It is, unfortunately, anything but linear function ...
I agree the measurements for the latest AT MC crop is pathetic. But, back in their good past, they did have some really nice models ... - the one that might have dragged the remnants of those good days to present is AT 33 PTG II, which although out of production, can still be found with several vendors. And the latest incarnations of OC9 are also no slouches - please check the Hifinews review.
Shure M97xe - the less said about it, the better. For the trully pathetic performance offered by the last batch(es), it will never be missed.
Shure actually did 2-3 ( depending how one counts ) decent phono cartridges. But, they were what I call "semi-products" or "good kits to be finished at home". Only the V15IV ever reached more popularity, the others that were variations on the basic theme with much improvement are today next to unknown and are nearing unobtainium.
As for the M97xe, it wasn’t a patch on the M97HE which preceded it, a different cartridge internally, and in the end Shure had terrible problems with quality control, but a good one was still a decent cartridge and usually sold for the same kind of price as the much less competent and cheap AT95e. I had both of them. Just before Shure stopped making them Expert Stylus Company in the UK were selling tested new M97xe carts with ruby cantilevers and paratrace stylii and they reckoned that turned them into a truly excellent cartridge in the V15 class. They didn’t have an axe to grind or a commercial reason for pushing them, they’re genuinely not that kind of company, with a long waiting list of work, and their modded M97xes sold out as quickly as they could produce them.
As for the M44/M55 it fully deserves its status as a legend and Jico have gone to the huge trouble of remanufacturing them because in so many ways they have actually proved irreplaceable.