So WHERE do you go to buy a Shure V15 Cartridge ?

I'm In St. Louis Missouri. The two high end repair stores I was familiar with are now gone.

also could use a step up transformer to upmatch moving coil output levels to a MM phono input

Bad Ears- not that I'd try to sell you on a MC but to clarify, you can use a high output MC with your MM input, which is why the MC manufacturers produce these. It's only a function of having enough voltage, nothing more. Most of the HO MC's put out well in excess of 2 mV, which is what alot of MM's put out.

A few years back, HO MC's were not as well developed, but most manufacturers have now figured out how to get them very close to the low output versions.

On the topic of repairing your pre- where are you located?

Regards
Jim

Went out to J&R guys, and the price there is $229.00 -- the cheapest I've been able to find so far. My current pre-amp only supports MM so I'm staying put. Since we're talking analog, I have an old Apt-Holman preamp I'm trying to resurrect, especially the phono preamp. Is there a spot everybody considers the best to work on your gear ?

Have you considered other cartridges? Perhaps you might do well with a high output MC, something like the Denon 103 that some here have reported to be pretty darn good for under $300. Given what you have had prior experiences with, something like this might be an "ear-opener". Don't know how it might work on your table, but you might want to ask around.

If you are set on the V15, you're in pretty good shape, though.

Belts can be found at Projector-Recorder Belt Company in Whitewater, Wisconsin. They are the actual manufacturer of alot of OEM belts and you don't have to pay for 5 middle-man mark-ups.

Regards
Jim

Further to my last post, they do carry the current version of the V15 cartridge, and their price is too low to advertize, so you can e-mail them for a quote. Search under "jandr", you'll find them. Good luck, it's always been among the best MM cartridges.

Not sure if J&R Music World here in NYC still carries them or discounts them as much as they used to in the old days (used to be about half off, I think), they're worth a try.

You can get a Shure V15VxMR from either Jerry Raskin's Needle Doctor, or from Garage-a-Records (which often has the lower prices). Here are the Web links:

Needle Doctor: www.needledoctor.com/
Garage-a-Records: www.garage-a-records.com

Raskin's Needle Doctor usually has a large ad each month in Stereophile, which lists many of the cartridges he sells.

Thanks Jim, I have been out to AA and saw their ad -- it may be the best deal period. My local Shure reseller is rather high end and he wants his portion, so it looks like I'll have to procure it remotely.

Your best deal might be from your local Shure dealer. Try www.shure.com to find your local sales rep to locate a dealer. As a backup, I think www.audioadvisor.com will sell you one of these $350 list items for $275. For spare parts, try www.needledoctor.com. Good luck.