The Jico SAS/B Stylus VN 5 MR
The $285 Jico SAS/B VN 5 MR for the Shure V15 V MR turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. The diamond is a distinctly lower quality than what you find in $10K cartridges, but the contact patches are well formed and nicely polished which is what counts. SRA and Zenith are right on. You can compare it with other styluses here https://imgur.com/gallery/stylus-photomicrographs-51n5VF9. The next question is going to be, how does the V15 SAS/B combination sound? It sounds like the record, nothing less, nothing more. This is through my Grado headphones as my amps are off being modified to run with ESLs. My sense is it is not quite as dynamic as my other cartridges, but I really have to listen through the main system. I will add to this post as I hear more. One thing is for certain, this is one heck of a cartridge for $485, a bargain of immense proportion. It sounds very much like my old Soundsmith Voice a $3000 cartridge, but it tracks like a bandit at 1.2 grams.
Yes Richard they were, but they also did not do a direct comparison with my other cartridges and my system is also very commanding from a visual perspective. It did not take me long to make the realization that the Shure was not up to the other cartridges performance. But I am not giving up yet. I will try Lew's suggestion. |
Michael Fremer wrote about a special series of styli with wooden cantilever for the Shure v15 from JICO and he was blown away. https://trackingangle.com/equipment/got-a-shure-v15v-type-vxmr-lying-around-with-no-stylus |
I have a Jico with a Ruby cantilever on a V15 V xMr, it’s one of my favorite sounding cartridges. My best cartridge is a Soundsmith Paua II, which I do love, but I keep putting the Shure back on, and Soundsmith rebuilt a Technics MC310 for me and I have the original adapter to use with an SL turntable, that’s a cool sounding cartidge as well, but I still keep putting on the Shure/Jico. |
@ledoux1238 Yes, they make, I think it was 4 different cantilevers based on "special" Japanese woods. This is a cultural thing with the Japanese. I am heavy into Japanese woodworking tools. The best plane irons are given names like "Eagle Spirit" engraved into the tool by the maker. Irons like these can go for thousands of dollars depending on the reputation of the maker. Every material used has special connotations. You are not just listening to a cartridge, but to special wood painstakingly manufactured by a little old man sitting at a coal fire. Koetsu did the same thing putting the same cartridge motors in different bodies ascribing a certain spirit to each one. IMHO all they did was give the cartridges different effective masses, but what do I know. I have another V15 VMR body. Maybe I'll try one. If you go here https://imgur.com/gallery/stylus-photomicrographs-51n5VF9 you can see pictures of several styluses including the JICO SAS stylus. You can easily see the it is full of contamination which softens the diamond. The very tip is well shaped and polished, but otherwise it can not match the quality of the other styluses. For $300 it remains a great value even if it has 1/2 the lifespan. In the meanwhile I have ordered all the parts to construct any of the loading schemes mentioned in this thread. I won't be commenting for at least a month probably 2 |
