The Phono Cartridge Thread

[greenhorn]

surprised how the sperical can sound better than the elliptical.
I have a pfanstiehl M70b, and it sounds rather dull.

 

[joysec]

I have been using Shure 44-7 for last 6 months along with
ortofone 2M RED. 44-7 is mainly for general perpose while ortofone Red is for soft and subtle numbers. Recently I procured 2 generic stylii of 44-7 @Rs850/- each from Ebay.com and to my surprise its almost like the original stylus, now retails @Rs1400-1600/- each.

 

[navinsinha]

I have been using Shure 44-7 for last 6 months along with
ortofone 2M RED. 44-7 is mainly for general perpose while ortofone Red is for soft and subtle numbers. Recently I procured 2 generic stylii of 44-7 @Rs850/- each from Ebay.com and to my surprise its almost like the original stylus, now retails @Rs1400-1600/- each.

Hi Bro,
Can you kindly let us know the name of the Ebay seller please?

 

[reubensm]

surprised how the sperical can sound better than the elliptical.
I have a pfanstiehl M70b, and it sounds rather dull.

There are always pleasant surprises in the world of hi-fi :lol:

 

[Technics_Fan]

Hello All,

I am trying to acquire a good quality stylus for Shure M55e....
I was browsing through the JICO website and came across
S.A.S SUPER ANALOGUE STYLUS....looks like a JICO proprietary standard..

S.A.S Super Analogue Stylus | JICO stylus | Online Shopping for Japanese Phonograph Needles

Apparently there is one version available for M55e but seems to be pretty expensive for a M55e...Looks like the key benefit of a SAS stylus is better contact surface and lower distortion....

Has anyone one here in the forum used a SAS stylus...Please let me know your views / opinions.


Regards,

 

[greenhorn]

I have the regular Jico N44E (.3x.7) and N55E (.2x.7) styluses. Honestly they're more than enough for me!
I've heard that the SAS drastically changes the character of the M55. the regular styluses make it sound like a more refined M44, so that works for me!

 

[sachu888]

I would prefer Denon Dl 103 over SAS. It is currently going very cheap($136- $156) on ebay. You will need to have very good LOMC preamp to get most out of it

Regards
Sachin

 

[souravin]

I would prefer Denon Dl 103 over SAS. It is currently going very cheap($136- $156) on ebay. You will need to have very good LOMC preamp to get most out of it

Regards
Sachin

Sachin,

Apologies for asking a noob question. How do I identify a pre-amp which could be compatible with LOMC cartridge? I do have Sansui Au D7 and NAD PP2 phono with MC inputs. Would that handle the same HQMC or LOMC?

Please help.

Thanks,
Sourav

 

[prem]

Hi Souravin

The MC in the older amps are not very good. The MM is fine. So if you want to use the DL 103 use a step up transformer between the table and your amp. You can look at step up from Cinemag or Bobsdevices. If you have a higher budget Auditorium step up is very good

 

[sachu888]

Hi Saurav,
You can use step up transformer as suggested by Prem with your existing MM phonostage or build this http://www.hifivision.com/diy/43653-ht-mc-phono-stage-ad797.html

Regards
Sachin

 

[souravin]

Hi Souravin

The MC in the older amps are not very good. The MM is fine. So if you want to use the DL 103 use a step up transformer between the table and your amp. You can look at step up from Cinemag or Bobsdevices. If you have a higher budget Auditorium step up is very good

Thank you Prem for the pointer. This is very helpful

Sourav

 

[souravin]

Another question.

As Shure M 97Xe is also low output MM cartridge, Is there any trick for step up of gain level. I am using 47K load in CNC phonostage.

Sourav

 

[sachu888]

Another question.

As Shure M 97Xe is also low output MM cartridge, Is there any trick for step up of gain level. I am using 47K load in CNC phonostage.

Sourav

Hi Saurav,
4MV is not a low output MM cart. Dl 103 is only .3mv. CNC can't be modified fo so much gain. It will be too noisy.

Regards
Sachin

 

[jls001]

How do I identify a pre-amp which could be compatible with LOMC cartridge?

Here is a very good calculator:
https://www.kabusa.com/frameset.htm?/

For example, if we consider 0.3 mV output of Denon DL 103 the ideal gain the phono preamp must have is 61 dB. So the phono preamp must have that much gain. But to make a buying decision, one may also like other facilities like the ability to match impedance (as matching impedance between cartridge and phono stage is critical for MC cartridges).

The above calculator assumes that the output of the phono preamp will be 325 mV when measured at 5 cm/s record speed.

 

[Technics_Fan]

I am being offered a couple Shure M75ed for practically nothing...I have a Shure M55e in my possesion..
Just wanted to understand how does the M75 compare to a M55..assuming that both of them are fitted with a JICO stylus...Appreciate your response...

 

[greenhorn]

I've used them with generic & jico basic styluses, and the M75 is a bit laid back & restrained in the dynamics department. I've found no difference between it and the M35 cart body. (both can be made to take the same stylus, with a bit of modification to the stylus)

The M55E is more related to the M44-7, with a louder, in your face, foot tapping sort of cart, with a lot more finesse compared to the M44. However with the right stylus, the M75 can come pretty close to the M55. I've had some good results with the generic Pfanstiehl 4762DE & the EVG 3136DE (jico made apparently) - note that these are both M91E styluses - They are cheap and can fit on any of (M35/M75/M91/M93) carts with a little plastic surgery.

I usually use it for laid back instrumentals which need a bit more focus on the highs and the mids (the M55's bass and low mids can sometimes get a bit overpowering)

the M75 levels will be lower than the M55 though. Most of the difference in sound will come from the stylus - so choose it carefully! .

Do let us know how cheap you're getting it - these carts sold a lot in the 70's, and there are no good basic styli that fit them directly (the generic M75 styluses that I bought were all uniformly crappy - evg, pfanstiehl, ed saunders) so you get a lot of them in the used market without stylus going cheap. On the other hand, if they still have the M75ED Type 2 stylus, or the type 1 M75 (full metal body) then grab them! they're getting very rare (but determining stylus wear is still an issue) . I ended up with a bunch of them ( M75EDType2, M75EJM,Me75ED Encore, M75Type D, Realistic R1000ED) all of which are more or less the same. But like i said above, with some experimenting, you can get some pretty good music out of them for very cheap

 

[Technics_Fan]

Thanks Greenhorn for you detailed response...Your experience is invaluable to this forum.....

Have you tried the JICO Elliptical stylus for M75 from jico-stylus.com.

N-75ED/2, JICO stylus | Online Shopping for Japanese Phonograph Needles

Not sure if these would be an improvement to the generic crappy stylus....

I been offered @ price of 1k for the pair ...trying to lowball it further
I am not sure as to what variants are being offered...

Regards

 

[greenhorn]

Shure N91E generic stylus (for Shure M91E, M91ED cartridge) | eBay
STEREO TURNTABLE STYLUS NEEDLE Shure N75ED Type 2 M75ED N75 M75 760-DED 4760-DE | eBay

much cheaper alternatives, though I don't think the second seller ships to india (have not tried the first one either to india)

Both these needles are jico, and a fraction of the price from the jico site. please use the ebay.com links, using .co.uk site as ebay.com is blocked at work

 

[Technics_Fan]

Thanks for the links...but what makes you think that these are JICO and not crappy generic ones....
The ones in Jico site are listed as manufactured by SHURE / SHURETIP ....JICO may have their own version in addition to retailing original shure styluses...

 

[greenhorn]

these model numbers are EVG part numbers, EVG is a generic stylus reseller, and Jico is one of their suppliers. generally Jico styli have a particular (blue?) dot on the cantilever, and folks on audiokarma who have tried the stuff from the jico site and the evg styli from various vendors say that they sound the same and have the same dot. There are only a few good generic styli, and their part numbers are recommended on AK threads mostly (Search for the PM3136DE or the 4606-DEX - the recommended generic styli for the M91/93 & the stanton 680/81, just to cite a few examples) . There is a remote possibility that the stuff from the korean seller may be from a later batch with a different OEM(he does not explicitly say Jico, but the part numbers are the same), but the odds are low :/

PS: I have a pair of EVG Jico N44E (from the US Seller) & N55E(from the Korean seller) stylus. You're welcome to test them out and decide on their merits yourself

I doubt Jico are selling NOS Shure styluses. Shure does not make these any more, and these parts are obsolete in their catalog.