Anyone have an opinion, Jico SAS stylus?

I've been through a lot of cartridges (40 years worth) but keep coming back to the Type 3. After auditioning the xMR, I replaced it with a M97xE I had laying around. The overall impression was that it had a slightly muddy bottom end but costwise compares well. Some of the things I've enjoyed with the t3 is its lack of shyness in the bass, the treble is crisp and dynamic, transitions are spot on, but voices can at times be somewhat brittle. No coloration anywhere. Taking your experience into account, I'll try the SAS, but only one (they aren't cheap) for comparison to the ellipticals. Thanks for your reply.

Markd51: Pretty much what I anticipate, with hopefully a little more openess in the harmonics through increased groove depth. The type 111 is certainly not lacking in detail, and the EPA-500 presents a with a high degree of resolution. If, as I expect, the SAS will diminish a sense of dryness "a mile wide but only an inch deep" I'll be pleased. Setup has not been a problem for me, I appreciate the heads-up with this stylus. Thanks for the add'l input.

I recieved the SAS stylus for my V15-111 two days ago and am hugely pleased with the performance. The sense of grainy midrange was corrected by the addition of a line/power conditioner. A remarkable improvment in texture was observed before the new stylus was installed.
The JICO replacement offers several differences from either the stock stylus or the Saunders elliptical. The cantilever is (Thanks Mark) a boron tube bonded to the inside of an aluminum section. It is supported by a rubber damper at the end of a tensioning holder which appears to be a rigid foam which fills the sleeve. Through this holder a suspension wire restrains the cantilever from longitudinal movement. Detected resonance, to my ears, is nonexistant.
The stylus itself is radiused on both sides, front and back, leaving a razor thin portion across its width in contact with the groove. It also seats very snugly into the cartridge body. I needed to remove the arm wand to confirm it was properly installed.
On inital playback (Alan Parsons, "I, Robot") clarity in the upper registers was immediately apparent, but I didn't find the same presence in the bass response. Within two hours of playing time the suspension loosend up and tonality became integrated across the entire range.
The recordings I use to check alignment are Steely Dan "Babylon Sisters" (shake it), first track. No sibilance. Santana "Abraxas", sustained guitar note two minutes into "Incident at Nashabur", no distortion, and side two of Vangelis "Chariots of Fire" where halfway through, single notes of multiple insturments played forte can blow the stylus out of the groove if VTF is incorrect.
In the seventh measure of Babylon Sisters, I actually looked for the triangle when it was struck on the first count, the presence was startling.
I cannot support this, but I do have the feeling that this is appropriate for low mass/high compliance applications only, I have visions of vinyl curly fries on the record from the tiny stylus at high tracking force. If the SAS stylus will do for my AKG P8E what it has done for the Shure, I'll have another on order soon. Please keep in mind I don't pretend to be qualified to review, these are only my impressions.

Regards, Blondskier7: Caution! The SAS stylus has cost me somewhere in the neighborhood of, well, a lot. It is said that familiarity breeds contempt. In this instance 35 years of familiarity had engendered complacency. Although some components have stood the test of time well, what was TOTL to a recent graduate in 1978 bears small resemblence to gear now offered. The JICO micro ridge varient revealed, in particular, advances in speaker design. An upgrade there led to a year of chasing the "weak link" so my suggestion to you is to restore the OE stylus to the M97xE, forget any improvment you heard and buy a nice new car with the $ you'll save.

Peace,

Regards, Hxt1: Shure recommends 4-500pF cap. At 100k Ohms res., hf/low level detail is quite good. Strong bass if VTA is slightly heel down, helps in taking bite out of the mids, too. Otherwise the Shure will sound brittle. Current passion is for a Signet TK5ea cart/AT155LC stylus, best when loaded at the other end of the range, 47k & 100pf. As you're probably aware, getting this right with MM's is a must.

Peace,