I still use one of those I bought new way back when and also have the original stylus plus an album that came with it. Can't remember what was on that album but one of these days I'll dig it to find out. I do remember it had a pic of a tonearm with the Shure cartridge in it.
I don't get why you would ask AFTER having made the purchase. You will be the first to know whether you made a good move, once you have auditioned the cartridge. Like "secretguy" said, I too never thought the V15 series were much better than OK. But it was a phase that everyone went through in the 70s and 80s.
Well, gentlemen, I was wondering what knid of a response I would get to my question,. I had a V-15 Tyve IV back in the nether days of my audio life.
Back then, I barely knew how to set up an arm and cartridge. When I decided to get back into analog years ago, I found just how much unknowing I could be accused of, and set about enlarging my knowledge regarding things of such matter.
I was able to do so, and was even able to construct a Garrard 401 table and plinth.I've been curious about how a Shure V-15 type whatever would sound on a properly set up turntable with a fine arm, phonostage and all to see just how fine it would sound set up in the conditions as they are at che Thomason these days.
The Shure V-15 has one of the best tracking available; it may be vintage but it is a legendary device. Whether you like the Shore sound or not is another matter
With its coil inductance of around 400 microhenries it won't have the speed and snap on transients of lomc cartridges. I have one NIB and a spare Jico stylus. Arm choice is important! A Grace 707 with its straight lightweight arm tube would work well with the V15's high compliance - I have two! A Denon 309 arm would also be a good choice.
Back in my early audiophile years I tried an M91E, a Stanton 681A, and an Empire something in my Dual 1209, because they were $5.00 each at Korvette, and I was curious. I greatly preferred the Stanton. Later I enjoyed a B&O SP12, an ADC XLM and Sonus Blue Label before my first MC, a Denon DL103S. I never went back to Shure until I tried an M95HE a decade or two ago…again, dull and lifeless to my ears. More recently, a V15 IV came my way, and I got Jico SAS stylus for it, to go on a Well Tempered TTTA. Finally, a Shure I could enjoy! I hope you do too. I now am using an AT OC9 XML with even more pleasure, and a newer phono preamp (Pro-Ject PhonoBox DS3), which gives me lots of loading and gain options I never had before.
I too hope you enjoy the Shure, despite my pessimistic comment. Pay no attention to Jason, who even got the inductance of the Shure wrong. He stated it's 400 microhenries when in fact it's 1000X higher than that, at 400 millihenries (actually, Shure say 500mH). But the good news is inductance is only one factor that might partially affect transient response. Other factors (moving mass, compliance, etc) are actually in favor of MM and MI cartridges over MC cartridges in terms of transient response. Also, as someone else pointed out in another thread, inductance acts through hysterisis, which is only a factor for certain coil structures. Back in their heyday, the Shure V15s were known and advertised for their tracking ability. And indeed they measured superior in that regard. Tracking ability also is a correlate of transient response. So, listen for yourself.
Brain fog in the morning made me misstate the inductance of the Shure's coils. I know the difference between micro and millihenries. Anyway, I'd rather listen to a low-inductance Grado MI than a Shure. That high coil inductance makes MM's very sensitive to cable and phono stage capacitance.
In my misspent youth, I had a V-15 Type IV, but back in those days, I barely knew how to set up a cartridge, so I'm curious how the V-15 will sound on my current lash-up.
Just please allow an old man to get his jollies off somehow!
Fyi when I had a hiatus from audio I ran a Shure V15vmr in a modified ET2 - superb results. Also like you I have a Dynavector 501 - the Shure V15vmr sounded very good in that arm as well. The V15 did not sound great with any of my other arms.
So from my point of view you have a great arm/cartridge match with the 501/V15 - I ran the Shure with the stabiliser brush removed.
Dover, I am so glad to hear this news. Now that I'm a certified old fart, these kind of exercises are fun, and don't cost too much. I wonder it it'll outshine the Dynavector XX2MKII (a real verteran around here, with a SS retip aboard), an AT ART-9, Acutex M 320 LPM, or my ESCCO modified Denon 103R.
Some find the m97xe to be better. Those are going for 400 to 500! I have one and love it. I have much more expensive MC cartridges but I find that the shure still sounds darn good for what it is. It was only around 87 bucks back in the day, before shure stopped making it. It tracks at 1.25 grams, and the brush is cool.
...at another once upon a time, the best MM cart I owned was a Stanton 681EE....
Later, with the possession and enjoyment of a Technics SL-10, the MC cart that came with it was titz....
Then, I fell into the digital domain and carts fell to the wayside, less or more...but even before the SL and to this day, tangetal arms are still the weapon of choice.
’Anti-skate’ only applies to skateboards....which I don’t ’do’...... ;)
(The peril of carts is that it's REALLY Hard to 'demo' anything of that sort....word of mouth, of mag, of blind faith, shots into the dark....best guess seems to be sorta SOTA....)....mho....
Give it a week or at least several hours of listening before you make a judgement. All new audio gear is a rose at first and then after long hours of listening, sometimes the bloom is lost.
Of all the MM cartridges I have, I love the SHURE V-15 VMR the best. Before becoming mostly a MC man, I got a JICO SAS stylus for it. Not sure if you can still get them, but the last time I looked they had become stupid expensive. I think JICO has some other MR upgrades available. The SAS was definitely an eye opener and I stuck with that as my number one for many years.I never heard the V-15 IV, but read that it was a little bit of a step down from the III, so I think your going to love the V-15 VMR.
Disclaimer: the first good cartridge I evet had was a V-15 III MANY years ago, so my ears may have been preconditioned.
Hell to all. Finished up the installation of the Shure V-15 Type 5 MR last night, first record was a wowser, the second even more so (Eric Burden's "Til Your River Runs Dry"). Great album, and sounded spectacular. I just sat with my mouth hanging open, in pure joy.
I've never expreienced that kind of feeling before in all the years of my much DIY system, it sounded like a million-dollar system with the new cartridge.
To say I am happy would be the understatement of the year, and Dover, you were so right about the Dynavector 501 arm would be a good match for the V-15 Type 5, another monumental understatement.
Thanks to all who care, and even to those that don't! (I love everybody this morning!
That's great to hear. FYI the Dynavector Cartridges prevalent at the time of the 501/507 series launch were medium compliance.
You can get more performance from your 501 by fine tuning the position of the rear counterweight.
If you take off the anti-skate, lift the cartridge ( or remove platter ) try blowing on the arm. When the rear counterweight is at its optimum you should be able to move the arm back and forth by gently blowing on its side. When you see this you start to understand the rationale behind the arms split inertia design. Effectively when properly set up the arm floats in the horizontal domain.
Dover, thanks for that tip. I’ve got two 505s and a mint 501. The owners manual is a bit vague on positioning that rear mounted puck shaped counter weight.
I have used a SHURE V15VxMR on my Technics deck with the stock arm to very good effect. That cartridge, with the original beryllium cantilever, is unequivocally great. Too bad MMs are lost to many "audiophiles." Not fashionable I guess.
Great dynamics, good timbre, excellent tracking. It delivers a strong convincing meat-on-the-bones picture. A very enjoyable cartridge.
For Dynvector arms use the markings for the counterweight as per the manual for initial placement then do the fine tuning of the counterweight from there - gently back and forth from there - you'll see when its right from my procedure above.
Manual is readily available on Vinyl Engine and elsewhere. Dover, I set mine up per the markings. That’s pretty much according to the manual, but your added suggestion on how to check for balance by blowing on the wand was new to me.
Lewm, I've never heard my LP setup sound this good before. It might be that this cartridge is a much better match for my Dynavector arm, than The Acutex. It might be if I use Dover's method of setting balance weight to the arm, I might ba blown away again.
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