Vinyl Asylum: REVIEW: Jico SAS stylus for the Shure M97xE. Jico SAS stylus for the M97xE phono cartridge. Other by fscerri

Model:	Jico SAS stylus for the M97xE phono cartridge.
Category:	Other
Suggested Retail Price:	A$120.
Description:	Jico SAS stylus
Manufacturer URL:	Not Available

Review by fscerri on February 02, 2010 at 23:49:29
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for the Jico SAS stylus for the M97xE phono cartridge.

Well the Jico SAS stylus I'd purchased arrived this morning and I've wasted no time in checking it out on the M97xE that resides on my main Dual CS-515 turntable and ULM tonearm. The tracking weight was checked at the recommended 1.25 grams with no stabiliser in use and my usual phono preamp ( DIY ESP P06) set at 62 K input resistive impedance was used for initial listening.

Well, how does it sound? Lovely.....but! Firstly, I found that whilst it was a firm fit on my M97xE cartridge body, it was not particularly tight, which was a slight concern as it may become more loose over time and with use.

Sonically, it is a delight revealing much improved sonic detail, resolution and improved and more precise stereo imaging over the standard Shure stylus. I didn't detect any excessive brightness with the new stylus, suggesting that a slightly higher resistive load impedance than 47 k is advisable, although with the improved clarity and resolution it will probably sound quite engaging at 47 k. One more test to do!

Comparing the sound of the Jico SAS stylus to the standard Shure elliptical brought to mind the visual image of looking at a beautiful gem stone that had become a little dirty and dull, whereas the Jico SAS stylus sounded like a gem stone presented in all its visual splendour. I swapped the two styli frequently on the same music sections to confirm this.

Two very different records were listened to, one record was of Haydn's Violin Concertos released on Philips and the other was a well used but still in good condition of Deep Purple's 'Machine Head' album from around 1972. The improved clarity and sonic resolution was especially noted on the Deep Purple record.

Ok now the bad news. The supplied note suggests that the SAS stylus requires essentially pristine records in excellent condition. On the basis on my initial listening I'd go further and say, don't try to play anything unless it is absolutely pristine and clean. It is a very 'fussy' stylus! On the Deep Purple record which is slightly warped, it jumped and skipped frequently and watching the whole cartridge 'quiver' alarmingly with warps was very disconcerting and somewhat alarming. The Haydn record played much better but with more skips than I had expected.

Normally, there are none. Indeed with the standard Shure stylus both records play perfectly even without the use of the Dynamic Stabiliser! I experimented with the stabiliser on the Jico SAS stylus and found its value very marginal. Increasing the tracking weight helped somewhat but was somewhat beyond the recommended range that Jico suggest. It will be interesting to see if things improve with time and the stylus 'breaks in'?!

In conclusion, the Jico SAS is a fine stylus and if one is interested in improved sonic quality from the M97xE, it is highly recommended however its inability to properly play even slightly 'less than perfect' records is a significant disappointment to me. fscerri.

Update: In the couple of days since the commissioning of the new Jico SAS stylus and my initial review, it has been very interesting to observe an unusual kind of stylus 'break in' take place. With each record played the stylus sounds better and better and the general tracking, better and better! The somewhat alarming 'quivering' tendencies initially noted on even slightly warped records have disappeared and this quite bizarre stylus behaviour has completely settled down, leaving a simply stunning level of vinyl playback.

This happened after the playing both sides of only two or three records. The supplied Shure elliptical stylus is not 'bad', it is just that the Jico SAS stylus is so much better, allowing a standard of vinyl playback performance with the humble Shure M97xE that is utterly superlative in its clarity, resolution and stereo imaging. I am still using 62 k as the resistive load on my DIY ESP P06 Phono preamp, but I've sure that there will be no complaints with the sound quality if using 47 k, assuming optimal capacitance loading with the M97xE. Thumbs up for the Jico SAS stylus for the M97xE. I recommend it highly. fscerri.

Product Weakness:	A strange stylus 'break in' noted.
Product Strengths:	A massive sonic improvement for the Shure M97xE!

Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: ESP P19 chip amplifier.
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): ESP P06/ P88.
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Dual CS-515.
Speakers: Richter Merlins and B&W powered subwoofer.
Cables/Interconnects: DIY low capacitance interconnects.
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Classical/ Rock.
Time Period/Length of Audition: Several days.
Type of Audition/Review: Home Audition

Amplifier:	ESP P19 chip amplifier.
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	ESP P06/ P88.
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Dual CS-515.
Speakers:	Richter Merlins and B&W powered subwoofer.
Cables/Interconnects:	DIY low capacitance interconnects.
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Classical/ Rock.
Time Period/Length of Audition:	Several days.
Type of Audition/Review:	Home Audition