A Shure V-15 Cart I Had Not Seen Before

[mrow2]

OK well who is right, then? Snead says a stylus will cost me around $200 (too much) and 1200y3 just said it's easy to modify a shure. How would I use a V15 III in this cart? Is it true I cannot find a IV stylus to work in this, at reasonable cost?

(note earlier correction of 1450 resistance each side, not 1550)

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n243 ... 5cartd.jpg

Now, I really am curious about the DIY stylus. What's the right answer, and I am really on a budget with this.

[dlaloum]

I is relatively simple to remove a shank and stylus from the plastic mounting....

You can therefore order a stylus that would fit a V15 III/IV or V (but NOT Vx)

Remove the shank/stylus from the plastic mount and fit it into your cartridge and you are done.

You can chooses from bottom of the market swiss made HE's, Ed Saunders HE's, Jico HE's, Jico MR, or Jico SAS (in increasing quality order...)

Theoretically a naked stylus like this will be better than the original as there is less there to vibrate.

Use a digital scale to weight the cartridge with stylus inserted, and pad the front with a touch of plasticine - this will a) damp vibrations a bit (a good mod!) and b) raise the mass a touch

Add just enough to raise the cartridge mass to 6g as per p-mount specs....

My own Jico SAS came off its plastic mount ... and has been in use "naked" since....(I can re-glue it to its mounting, but am debating whether I want to!)

bye for now

David

[mrow2]

Ok so I will order a stylus for a V15 III, IV, or V. Which style gives the best bang for the buck? I can do the shank surgery, and I suppose I can even marry it to the original plastic that I still have. You're Shure the shanks of these units will fit this body? It definitely is a smaller shank than what I am accustomed to seeing. I have a III DU proprietary cart right now, with a decent aftermarket stylus -- can verify the shank fit -- ok it fits but won't go in all the way due to the silver trim on the cart vs the huge plastic front end on the stylus assembly. Aside from that, it feels like it would go in. But, is it really compatible?

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n243 ... 5carte.jpg

Also, I don't intend to use it in a linear TT or even a dedicated P-mount table... I don't have either. I had planned to convert it to 1/2 inch. So I'd probably just notch the type III or type IV if available so that it slides all the way in, if that is possible. Any reason I shouldn't go for a type V instead?

[dlaloum]

Value is proverbially in the eye of the beholder!!

My take is this - the Ed Saunders are excellent value "standard" styli

The Jico SAS are excellent value "exotic" styli.

With regards to compatibility...

I've been trying to measure magnet location on the shanks - but I cannot find my old compass... (the right tool for the job!)

If the magnets are located roughly in the same place on the shank (+/- a couple of mm) - then they are definitely compatible.

Also if you know the body to be a IV or III by its inductance specifications (inductance is the critical one rather than resistance) - then you should aim for one of those styli as your donor.

For the absolute best possible results you could go for a V15V stylus - but with the inductance differences in the body, you would need custom capacitance and resistance to get it tuned in right - where with a stylus designed for a body with that inductance, your standard 47k resistance and normal 300pf to 400pf total C will work fine

I don't have specs on the V15-LT... but here are (some of) the other members of the family

V15-III 1350ohm 500mH
V15-IV 1380ohm 500mH
V15HR-P 1350ohm 500mH
V15V(MR) 815ohm 330mH
V15VxMR 1200ohm 416mH

My gut feeling is that the II/IV/HR/LT are the exact same (or very very similar) engine.

The one thing to watch out for is that a true III needle is very high compliance - you need a (very) low mass arm, or a damped arm.
The IV kept the high compliance concept and added the damper brush to assist arm matching.

Your setup without a brush would work happily in a p-mount arm as those are normally low mass, but in a standard arm some care may be needed for arm matching.

The SAS styli are I believe lower compliance than the originals.... my SAS N97xE is 22cu where the original N97xE is around 25cu....


bye for now

David

[wualta]

Just to complete this old thread:

According to both a .pdf and a 1981 brochure, the V15-LT has the same specs as the V15 IV-- 1380 DCR and 500mH inductance.

pdf is here: http://es.shure.com/idc/groups/tech_pub ... _lt_ug.pdf

[dlaloum]

Thanks for that..

It also states that the stylus is a "Supertrack IV" - and the technical description is very very similar to the V15IV stylus - sounds to me like the V15LT is basically a V15IV without the brush in a p-mount config...

The one thing it appears to be lacking which the V15IV has, is the laminated core poles (reducing eddy current, improving high frequency linearity)...

Do you have a link to the brochure?

very interesting - thank you

David

[KentT]

What I am saying is Technics Linears were not the best Technics tables made. The best tables Technics made were SP models with choice of tonearm, plinth, and cartridge. P mount or T4P was intended for casual users or for tyros. Not intended for higher end needs per se. And these higher end needs include high end audiophiles as well as professional use. Who need many more cartridge options than P mount ever gave you. Like most moving coils. Now, the high end Technics cartridges are very excellent in their own right. I still don't know of any Koetsus in P mount. Why be limited to few top end cartridges. Even some high end P mount solutions didn't offer all options that their 1/2" mount brothers did. And I am not trying to dis them. P mount needed tracking force ranges for many more needs to be a serious replacement to 1/2" to be all things to all people.

[lini]

(...) And the best Technics tables didn't use P-Mount, meaning the R&B (Recording & Broadcasting) line. Meaning the SP lineup. (...)

This is not entirely correct - google for SL1000MK3D...

nat: Not all SL-Ms were T4P - 'cause the SL-M1 was available in both versions.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini