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Purchased a used Shure V15 Type IV cartridge, looking for stylus

I purchased a used Shure V15 IV with a NOS stylus but I believe it is an aftermarket as it does not say Shure across the stylus, but it does have the dampening brush. I have looked at the Jico replacement stylus’s and am leaning towards the one with Boron cantilever and super elliptical stylus. I believe Jico is getting around $280.00 give or take.

LA Gear also sells a stylus for much less as well as many sellers on flea bay. I hear that the higher end Jico stylus with the ruby canteliver has a tipped up high end and Jico claims their stylus with the Boron canteliver is closest to the original with the Berellium stylus. Since I can’t listen or try before I buy, I am looking for anyone with experience on this. The cartridge should arrive on Wednesday and a new headshell and mounting hardware should be here by Saturday.

Of course I will try with the supposedly NOS stylus but most likely 99% sure I will buy a replacement just for the peace of mind. Looking for knowledge and answers from those that know.  I only paid $140 for the cartridge and owned one back in the day (1978) and always loved the sound of it.  This will be a third cartridge so it won’t be in use all the time.  Thanks.

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Showing 3 responses by br3098

br3098
969 posts
 

Any of the options you mention will work great with your Shure V15 Type IV cartridge. All but the NOS will sound different, but still great. Keep in mind that the V15 is an "old school" MM cartridge design: thicker in the midrange and rolled off a bit on the top and lower end. That's wonderful, assuming that's the sound profile you're looking for. More modern cartridge designs may be a bit more extended and balanced.

There was a great discussion about this topic on vinylengine a few years ago. Here's a link Which Stylus for a Shure V15 IV?

 

br3098
969 posts
 

With all respect to Elliot, who is a knowledgeable Audiogon contributor, I'm not a fan of using a brush mounted on any cartridge, for the following reasons:

1. it screws up the geometry of the cartridge and makes azimuth adjustment almost impossible. This wasn't a major factor when the V15 series was first introduced, but it is now.

2. Some turntables, mostly belt drives with "low-noise" (aka low powered) motors will not spin at the precisely correct speed with the brush attached.

3. Unless the brush is cleaned often, your you will hear more noise as dirt get accumulated into the grooves. It's a resolvable issue but it's also a PITA.

4. In dry/low humidity conditions, brushes can build up a considerable amount of static on the record surface, also contributing to noisy play.

Best to skip the brush, IMO.

br3098
969 posts
 

Gents, I agree that using a brush shouldn't affect the platter speed. This isn't a universal problem. Yet there are a few turntable designs when this can happen. I used to be a dealer for Pear Audio Blue turntables. They are a Tom Fletcher design, like the Nottingham line. Really great decks. One of their features was belt drive using a low torque motor, designed to just keep the mass loaded platter spinning at the proper speed. You started and stopped the platter rotation by hand. It's not a problem, in fact I found it to be a brilliant and simple method to limit noise. It worked. But I wouldn't want to introduce any significant drag on the platter with  turntables of this and similar designs.

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