Which needle for sony xl-45 cart, NOS or Jico sas?


 

Hello,

I happen to have a sony xl-45 cartridge w/o needle.

It is said to be vere good. Is it really so?

Well, now I need a needle.

And there two options

Either I can get a NOS vintage sony nd-45E (elliptical) for smth 230 or so usd

Or I can buy a brand new JICO sas for some 280 usd, i suppose .

What would be a better choice ?

Besides there a jico sas with boron cantilever and with a ruby one (a bit more expensive, about 350 usd)
Does it (cantilever) make a big diffrence and is ruby cantilever  is worth extra money ?

 

Thank you

serge8

I vote for new Jico SAS on boron. Fresh suspension. I got one for my Shure V15Vx body, sounds wonderful.

Yours has no stylus. Just to note:, Shure, perhaps Sony made ’alternate’ interchangeable stylus, you could put elliptical, line contact, some even allowed stylus for 78’s. into the same body

i.e. perhaps you don’t really know what is in a used cartridge you buy.

Apparently this stylus is pretty rare!

Apparently so, but not as rare as a NOS stylus collapsing after a short time due to deterioration after 20-30 years storage.

Still, you could buy it and mount it on the wall as a piece of art.

 

You'd better pay the "buy it now" price of 45,000 yen ($313) for the Sony ND45X stylus before the auction ends in four days! Otherwise someone else is liable to scoop it up! Apparently this stylus is pretty rare!

There is one significant advantage the SAS has - it's new. No time for the rubber to deteriorate.

The original Sony composite aluminium/carbon fibre cantilever is a key ingredient in achieving that neutrality. With the SAS the sapphire cantilever would be much closer in sound to the original than the Boron.

With regards to the stylus shape - the SAS is probably better than the original.

On the Sony XL55mkII Sony moved to using a micro ridge profile.

Dear @serge8  : That's the one . Jico is to expensive and up to you. I can't judge about.

 

R.

@serge8  : Not this that comes with elliptical stylus shape. The Sony original is the:

ND-45X, so maybe that seller could find out one for you.

 

R.

Hello, thank you for the reply

here what I found as NOS sony for xl 45

 

What do you say?

Dear @serge8  : The Sony original stylus shape is line contact not elliptical so that NOS replacement is not for your cartridge that's good quality performer.

If you can't find out a NOS original replacement then the SAS can works and boron is way better than ruby and not the other way around.

 

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,

R.