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The Shure V15 V with a Jico SAS/B stylus VS The Soundsmith Hyperion MR and Lyra Atlas SL

On a sentimental lark I purchased two Shure V15 V bodies and one SAS/B stylus. I was always a realistic about the Shure's potential. Was comparing it to $10k+ cartridges fair? Absolutely. The Shure was considered to be one of the best cartridges of the day. Why not compare it to a few of the best we have today?

The Shure has always been considered to be unfailingly neutral. Famous recording engineers have said it sounded most like their master tapes. I do not have an original stylus for the Shure and I can not say that the Jico performs as well. 

My initial evaluation was quite positive. It worked wonderfully well in the Shroder CB. With a light mounting plate and small counterbalance weight a resonance point of 8 hz was easily achieved. There was nothing blatantly wrong with the sound. There was no mistracking at 1.2 grams. You can see pictures of all these styluses here https://imgur.com/gallery/stylus-photomicrographs-51n5VF9 

After listening to a bunch of favorite evaluation records my impression was that the Shure sounded on the thin side, lacking in the utmost dynamic impact with just a touch of harshness. I listened to the Shure only for four weeks as my MC phono stage had taken a trip back to the factory. I was using the MM phono stage in the DEQX Pre 8, designed by Dynavector. I have used it with a step up transformer and know it performs well. I got my MC stage back last week and cycled through my other cartridges then back to the Shure. The Soundsmith and Lyra are much more alike than different. I could easily not be able to tell which one was playing. The Lyra is the slightest touch darker. The Shure is a great value....for $480 in today's money, but it can not hold a candle to the other cartridges. They are more dynamic, smoother and quieter. They are more like my high resolution digital files. Whether or not they are $10,000 better is a personal issue. Did the DEQX's phono stage contribute to this lopsided result? Only to a small degree if any. I do have two Shure bodies and they both sound exactly the same. The Shure may have done better with a stock stylus. I do not think the age of the bodies contributes to this result at all. 

128x128mijostyn

Showing 5 responses by dogberry

dogberry
722 posts
 

@macg19 Actually, your parents paid for it and medical school after that. (Federal Taxes)

Ouch!

I bought a VxMR in, I think, 2006 and enjoyed it for some years on a Planar 3 as my way back into vinyl. Table and cartridge were given away when I moved house. Curiously, I gave away with them a Copland 301 pre-amp, a YBA 1 power amp, and the DCM TimeFrame speakers. Eventually, all except the table and cartridge came back to me, probably due to WAF preferring smaller and neater units that sounded far worse. You can lead a horse to water.....*

*RIP my old neighbour who modified that saying: You can lead a whore to culture, but you can't make her think.

dogberry
722 posts
 

Now that I have a powered subwoofer between my Quad 2905 speakers, I realise I could have got away with 2805s (or their replacements with fancy wood trim, the 2812). The trick has been to adjust the level of the subwoofer such that I cannot tell when it is switched on, but can tell when it is switched off - I know that makes little sense, but perhaps you understand me. It is like adding, say, cinnamon to Italian savoury dishes, not so much you can taste it, but it still adds something to the flavour.

dogberry
722 posts
 

Modern recordings seem to have more high-level transients, which trip the Quad protection circuits!

Not really a problem if you obey the instruction manual that says to use (an) amp(s) of 40-100W power and no more. As you may recall, I have replaced all the panels in my 2905s, and while the older panels were short on glue, it was the case that one would fail and start to arc after playing too loudly. I'm cautious with the volume control, and I expect my remaining half ear is grateful to be spared the acoustic barotrauma!

dogberry
722 posts
 

Elsewhere I believe you have said the soundstage should be entirely between the speakers, and anything else is because wall reflections have not been eliminated.

Well, we know what music with no reflections sounds like: play it outdoors. It sounds 'dead.'

But too many reflections muddies things and getting it just right is a dark art that a few concert hall designers have achieved largely by luck.

dogberry
722 posts
 

They all do, when no signal is applied.

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