Cartridge, Compliance, try what in my JVC UA-7082 Arm?

The best cartridge you can use with ease on Victor tonearm is Victor cartridges. Make sense? They are match in heaven to be used on this arm. Actually this is a top of the line tonearm made by JVC/Victor, their best model, a longer version of UA-7045.

What was the best MM cartridge made by JVC Victor ?

X-1 with Beryllium cantilever and Shibata stylus tip.
X1II with Beryllium cantilever and Shibata stylus tip.
X1IIe with Titanium Pipe cantilever with Elliptical tip.

You can’t go wrong with any of them, personally i have tried many samples of them all. I must say that X-1 normally has softened suspension and behave like a lowrider, so this model is problematic.

The X-1II was better for me and adored by many on here, search in the old threads about MM carts.

The X-1IIe is high resolution cartridge, cheaper than its brother X-1II, but very nice too.

For some reason, if you need some other cartridges, make sure they are MID COMPLIANCE, a low compliance cartridges also too heavy for use on UA-7082 tonearm without special Victor Subweight which you don’t have, also with your defective rubber grommet your counterweight will fell off simply under its own weight when you will balance the cartridge and move it all the way to the end for use with heavier MC carts.

A high compliance cartridges like Shure is not optimal for this arm and must be avoided in theory if you care about tonearm/cartridge resonance frequency.

Audio-Technica cartridges are normally Mid Compliance and you can use them!

This is a counterweight position with normal MM cart and lightweight headshell, as you can see the counterweight is behind the rubber grommet even on a lighter UA-7045. When it’s too far on your heavier UA-7082 the grommet simply can’t resist the weight and the counterweight sag down at 45 degree (too bad).

Actually Victor UA-7082 can be used even with Ortofon SPU cartridges, but ONLY with victor subweight screwed to the armtube on the back, and only when you will replace your defective rubber grommet.

Victor designed amazing LOMC cartridges such as DIRECT COUPLE MC-1, MC-L10 and MC-L1000 , those are low compliance and made for this arm as the reference models! Seach on audiogon and you will find threads about those unique models. I am using MC-L10 now on UA-7082 with subweight, some more Victor from my collection.

Good luck!

My current Victor MC-L10 is magical with Luxman silver SUT (also relatively cheap $500 vintage toroidal SUT). However, my friend @nandric said the MC-1 sound like an MM cartridge to his ears :) 

Victor MM are giant killers! Super easy to drive with any MM phono stages and truly outstanding in details and resolution. I prefer Victor black headshells over conventional silver on those arms. 

It is interesting to see than MC-1 was twice as much in price compared to X-1IIe, but nowadays the situation different (the Victor X-1IIe is equal to the price on second hand MC-1 now). 

I believe the reason is that MC-1 coil wire connected to the cantilever is very fragile and one channel malfunction is pretty common for MC-1, it's very hard to find a perfect sample. I bought 2 and the one claimed to be working can only reproduce one channel after arrival, pretty sad, looks like new in the box. 

But X-1IIe and X-1II survived and does not have any technical problems in its construction even after 30-40 years. The X-1II also have beryllium cantilever and Shibata tip like MC-1. 

 

@best-groove

It seems to me impossible that more modern cartridges cannot be used with the 7082

Who said it’s impossible? But think why people using FR cartridges on FR tonearms, or Ikeda cartridges on Ikeda tonearm, or Technics carts on Technics tonearm etc... ?

You don’t have to calculate anything, just plug and play to match in heaven.

Also the OP has bought the entire Victor system and the only component missing is top of the line Victor cartridge. Probably the best way to judge about Victor engineering.

Well not quite correct now as he cancelled that purchase.
But he is still considering another near identical item

Does it change anything in my statement ? 
Prompt decision since the bug detected with the previous seller, just another victor hopefully in better condition. The arm is quite nice when it's near mint. 

I tried SONY XL-50 (Boron Pipe cantilever) on dedicated Sony headshell on my 7082 and it was quite nice. A bit underrated cartridge in my opinion, actually great MM at moderate price. But the Victor X-1IIe i tried in many combinations on various arms/headshells, the X-1II is even better, and perfect for Victor 7082

But 7082 will MC cartridges support some of them today?

many MC cartridges can be used with this tonearm, but subweight is a must have for heavy ones, the subweight principle is similar to those on Technics SL1210mkII that screwed in the arm pipe from the back. With this subweight there is no limit for any MC including probably SPU. Without subweight it will be hard to deal not only with heavy stuff like SPU, but also with conventional MC if the headshell is heavier than Victor (which is very light).  

It has original Headshell and Cartridge: Victor Z1s, not sure what Stylus is in it.

More important is to know long it was in use before you will put it on the record, it can be worn out already. The Z1 is the lower model from Victor and its styli are not compatible with the higher models like X1, X-1II etc. There are various styli made for Z1 (conical, elliptical etc). If you have the original for 4 channel then it must be Shibata and it’s the best for this model, it’s probably this one.

You can always change the original to JICO SAS just like Halcro did.

Elliot, they are not the same, it’s different series.

The Z-1 is cheaper (actually very cheap nowadays), the stylus is completely different and you can not swap the styli between entry level Z-1 and top of the line X-1 & X1II series. The Z-1 comes with conical, elliptical or shibata. If you have Shibata - this is the best original stylus for Z-1. While the Z1 is a $100-200 cartridge today, the higher model like X-1II in NOS condition goes way over $1k. 

Look at Victor catalog HERE, the price for X-1IIe is twice as much compared to Z-1e.

So when you’re using Z-1 today you can get is Jico SAS (Super Analog Stylus), the one that made for Shure cartridges as far as i know, it is compatible with Victor Z-1 and our member Halcro posted about it before in MM thread, you can search.

When you’re using X-1, X-1II and X-1IIe you can ONLY use original Victor styli and they are the best, as i told you before i have a NOS DT-x1IIe stylus in the box and a cartridge too.

Here is the DT-x1IIe stylus construction with tension wire.

X-1 has Shibata on Beryllium cantilever, the cartridge body is different than Z-1, X-1II and X-1IIe.

X-1II also has Shibata on Beryllium cantilever.
X-1IIe comes with Titatium Pipe cantilever and Nude Elliptical tip, this model is cheaper than X-1II, but also very nice and superior to Z-1 series.

I always use original styli on my rare vintage cartridges, i want to make sure i am listening what was designed by the manufacturer, not by a third-party freaks.

All images above taken by myself, i have tried all the best Victor MM cartridges, many different samples.

I am asking about putting a new Shibata in an X-1IIe body. Will that be equivalent to a new Shibata in a X-1II body?

I have no ideal what do you mean and the logic behind this idea. If you like to buy a broken cartridges to make a Frankenstein then it’s up to you.

Re-tipped cartridge will never be even close to the original Victor Shibata/Beryllium. The X-1IIe does not have a Beryllium cantilever like the X-1II, when you will put new tip on different cantilever the sound will be different. Actually the whole re-tipping process of MM cartridges is such a BS. No one on this planet can offer Beryllium cantilever anymore, none of those re-tippers, they can't offer even titanium pipe.  

The price for a NOS original boxed DT-x1IIe with ultra light and rigid Titanium Pipe cantilever and pressure fitter Nude Elliptical tip is no more than $400 (for an original).

What else you can get for that amount and where ? Normally this is what re-tippers charge just for the stylus tip (make no sense), but they can only glue the new tip to the existing cantilever or they can offer completely different cantilever, but they can’t do that on MM cartridge properly. Those victor have a tension wire inside the stylus assembly. Rebuild/Retip is just a waste of money for inferior technology. Look at the images of my Victor cartridges on macro lens and check how the stylus tip fixed to the Titanium or Beryllium cantilevers.

I've seen some third-party styli for X-1IIe with strange aluminum cantilevers, but they are junk compared to the original Victor styli.   

IOW, what, if any, difference in the X-1II or X-1IIE cartridge internals.

You can download the manuals and compare the specs.

P.S. Best Victor cartridges in MINT condition with original styli cost money, they are extremely rare and very hard to find in perfect condition. Once you will be able to check the original you will understand why they are expensive.

Anyone can join discussion about Titanium Pipe cantilevers, i can only recall Audio-Technica cartridges with this type of cantilever, but we're all aware of the Boron Pipe and the reason why they are better.   

According to our member @simpikins5 and his inside the beryllium is the best (no wonder why the most expensive Victor has beryllium cantilever): 

"There was a thread on Audiogon quite a while ago in which a former engineer from Audio-Technica was participating. He wrote a rather in depth post as to why Beryllium was the go to material for cantilevers and the panic that ensued at AT when the EPA came down with the order that it no longer be used due to the dangerous toxic dust released when machining the material. He stated that the engineering department underwent a lot of R&D to find a suitable replacement material and Boron was what they determined would be closest, however it was still a compromise. Apparently Beryllium allows for the largest frequency excursion without distortion and also permits better channel separation and signal to noise ratios. This is why it was so good." 

Where the hell you can get original NOS Shibata stylus for Victor X-1II ? 

The model of the ORIGINAL stylus called DT-X1II and the price for such stylus in NOS condition will be higher than for the whole NOS X-1IIe/D cartridge for sure. This stylus is impossible to find NOS. You'd better look here. The original stylus has Beryllium cantilever, the shape of the cantilever is unique as you can see here. 

If you're talking about $259 modern Jico replacement then This stylus is NOT THE ORIGINAL ! And the cantilever is aluminum (the cheapest). It will never be even close to the original Victor stylus.  

I like the Shibata stylus, i think Jico is not bad for back-up, but just do not expect it will be equal to the original. If you want to hear VICTOR you need an original stylus only (Beryllium or Titanium Pipe cantilevers). 

Also i think the original DT-X1IIe (Elliptical on Titanium Pipe) can be better than the JICO Shibata. In fact X-1IIe is a high resolution cartridge. 

$400?

The uber can be the smartest guy on the planet, but we’re talking about NOS STYLUS, not about a set of Victor X-1IIe/D (cartridge, stylus, headshell) in mint condition. I do not promote my listings here as many other people do, and ebay prices are at least 15% higher than it can be on other sources online.

I think realistic price for a NOS stylus with titanium pipe cantilever is about $400 for this model (just for the stylus) and this is about the same price that ANY re-tippers charge for their frankensteins. Comparing an original stylus with exotic cantilevers to some fake styli with aluminum cantilever for $260 i would always buy an original if i could find one. I did find a few, so i hope it is not impossible for X-1IIE model, but much more difficult for X-1II.

I have all these cartridges, styli, tonearms etc in my collection.
All of them in multiple samples, it was important for me to check and to compare all of them in my system.

For Victor you can simply replace it with brand new Jelco armlift, they are compatible. 

@ubewaltz

So yes seeing as you insist on being pedantic, you stated the OP has bought, all I did was correct that to a more correct "in limbo’ status which is 100% fact but no you still wish to contest the statement and have the last word! Have a good day, I am done smacking my head against a brick wall with you.

I have no idea what the F are you talking about each time when you say "last word" etc, instead of some useful contributions with facts, carts, links, data, pictures and everything i am doing here to help people, you’re talking about me "and my last words, brick wall etc". Please post something useful for everybody instead. The OP has bought another Victor system after he has canceled purchase of the previous system (because i have mentioned the problem with a counterweight which you can't even see just like Lew).