Shure V15VxMR to be discontinued


I saw on needledoctor.com that the V15VxMR was being discontinued - here's a notation from Shure:

"The V15VxMR may be discontinued in early 2005. If it is, the reason
is simple: the worldwide demand for phono cartridges declines every
year. The demand is now so small that specialized suppliers to
Shure no longer want to produce the parts for the V15VxMR. We are
searching for new suppliers but the processes required are very
arcane, thus making it difficult to find new suppliers. Once a final
decision has been made, we will post it on our web site. As of
today, we can only say: maybe."

"If the V15xMR is discontinued, we expect to have replacement styli
for the V15VxMR until late 2006, but that date may change if buying
patterns do not follow past trends. If you want to purchase a
replacement stylus now, seal it in an air-tight jar to keep ozone
away from the stylus bushing."

"The M97xE sells in greater number than the V15VxMR and our suppliers
currently seem happy to continue selling parts. But that too could
change in the future as the phono cartridge market continues to
shrink."

What a shame - the end of an era....
slate1
Norm: You can use a simple microscope for viewing your own stylus. After all, if you can look at paramecium using one of these things, you can surely see a small hunk of diamond with one.

As far as record cleaning goes, i'm talking about a REAL "deep cleaning" and then general maintenance after that. By deep cleaning, one would use cleaning solvents that are scrubbed into the grooves, removal of the offending solvents and grunge via vacuum removal and then a thorough rinsing using distilled / highly purified water with further vacuum removal. While this may sound like a lot of work, you only have to do it ONE time per disc and that's about it.

As far as linear tracking tables go, i wasn't referring to a Pioneer as being "high end" ( although i have several Pioneer tables ). My personal preference runs more along the lines of a Clearaudio Tangential TQ-I or Eminent Technology type arm mounted on a good table. This is not to say that a product such as a Pioneer PL-1000 or PL-800 can't play records and make music, but that it may not offer the last bit of refinement and detail that an admittedly more expensive combo of gear is capable of. Like anything else in this world, you have to pay to play. How much one wants to pay is directly related to how much one can play.

As far as flexing of the canilever goes, you are talking about distorting the amplitude and duration of each micro-vibration in a groove. A sloppy cantilever is equivalent to a car with bad shocks. Not only is the effectiveness of the suspension highly compromised, "road holding" power is also reduced. As such, a stiffer cantilever not only improves linearity by reducing distortion, it can also improve trackability IF the rest of the system is up to snuff. Sean
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Sean...Your remarks about "deep cleaning" are interesting. Are your methods capable of removing some of the dirty lyrics?