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Model: V15VxMR Category: Phono Cartridge Suggested Retail Price: $400 Description: Audiophile phono cartridge Manufacturer URL: Shure Model Picture: View
Review by Marc Bratton (A) on September 17, 2003 at 22:40:58
IP Address: 63.184.64.85Add Your Review
for the V15VxMRMy preferred cartridge, the ClearAudio Virtuoso, started bothering me with audible mistracking after only 22 months of use. The more precisely I got the setup, the more my system confirmed that the cartridge was getting old. Not having the $500-$600 to replace it (like a lot of high end MM's these days, its stylus is not user replaceable), I opted for the Shure V15VxMR for several reasons: 1.)Affordability...got if from Music Factory for $199 delivered. 2.)To calibrate my ears again by completely removing any hint of mistracking or coloration from the cartridge. The V15 is a paragon of both trackability and neutrality if nothing else. (3.)I HATE mounting and setting up cartridges!!! It is a royal PITA under the best of circumstances. If it proved I could live with the Shure, I'D NEVER HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN! I could just pop in a new stylus when the need arose, and it'd be a lot cheaper to do so, with the stylus exchange program from Shure...like 10 times cheaper than the Virtuoso. No more waiting for the cartridge maker to 'rebuild' your carridge, no more futzing with protractors...this is MAJOR. So, the Shure arrived from The Music Factory. I have to say THE WORST part of the whole job is getting the damn cartridge onto the arm, what with those wretched little nuts and too too short screws. Get a clue, Shure Brothers! The problem was exacerbated with my Morch UP4, which doesn't have a conventional headshell at all, but rather a flat blade on the end of the armwand. The cartridge is affixed to this with a vestigal little finger lift with two screw holes, a lot like the old Well Tempered Record Player arm (why DO I always choose arms like this? Must be a masochistic tendency...) Once I got the damn thing on the arm, it was actually not difficult to get Loefgren alignment and proper offset angle with my trusty WallyTractor. I'm getting ahead of myself here, but if you haven't mounted your Shure with this device, than you haven't heard your Shure yet. Like any cartridge, it benefits from the EXTREMELY precise setup that the Wally Tractor allows you, but this one seems to benefit even more than some, possibly due to its tiny tiny stylus. So I roughed in azimuth and VTA by putting a tiny 9mm float bubble on top of the flat headshell...if you have one of these, you should try this! It works great. After listening I made two minor adjustments to VTA (brought the arm down til the stylus was exactly 90 degrees vertical), and I was there!
The thing that immediately struck me about this cartridge is it sounds smoother than my $800 Virtuoso. Its frequency response is just ruler flat, and it sounds it. There are no peaks and troughs ANYWHERE...what you hear is what's on the record. By comparison, I now realize that the Virtuoso ON MY ARM, IN MY SYSTEM, had a definitely upper midrange peak. This gave it a more 'exciting' sound fer sure, but the Shure is I think more accurate. The 2nd thing that struck me is this thing reigns in dynamic contrasts slightly, compared to the Virtuoso. That's one area where the Virtuoso is an absolute champ. The Shure does NOT sound reigned in or undynamic, only just slightly in comparison to the Virtuoso. Separation? Soundstaging? Space between instruments? The Shure was about as good...its less impressive measurements than the Virtuoso in that regard don't seem to mean much. And trackability! I thought that some end of the record grunge was just part and parcel of pivoted tonearms...I was seriously considering an ET II for that reason.
Now I realize no, it's not part and parcel of pivoted tonearms...just part and parcel of most any other cartridge out there, on a pivoted tonearm. The Shure sounds as sweet and clean at the end of a record as it does in the middle no matter HOW heavily modulated...this is not piddling stuff here, folks! Sibilance? What is that? If your system is spitting at you with the sibilants, you need this cartridge. I've never heard better sibilance control.
Music flows freely, and is always enjoyable to listen to with this cartridge. The sound is precise and detailed without being analytical, warm and relaxed without any coloration. Treble is clean, clear and smooth. Voices are relaxed and natural sounding It also sounds less 'busy' than most any cartridge I've ever heard, because surface noise becomes vanishing low. You get an inkier, blacker background...that's the kind of stuff you usually have to pay big bucks for. But the Shure don't get no respect....a lot of folks in these pages have damned it with faint praise, including moi. I'm wondering now if it's not a self fulfilling prophecy...we tend to recommend it for mid fi or entry level tables, expecting only entry level results...and that's what we get. Mine's on a Teres/Morch UP4, which is in turn sitting on a 150lb slab of granite, and it LIKES IT A LOT! I think the WallyTractor is a major factor in why it sounds so good...as I said before, it benefits immensely from extremely precise setup. It doesn't sound in the least out of place on this table. I've certainly never heard this cartridge sound anywhere near this good, and I've heard it on lots of different tables and arms. It's smoother and easier to listen to than my Virtuoso, not quite as dynamic or 'exciting', not QUITE as much detail or air. But the sound is a lot closer than I would have thought possible. And consider this...our records aren't getting any younger. There is NO cartridge on the planet that is easier on them than the V15V. Period.Think long and hard about that. A word about the stabilizer...I was told the cartridge sounds better without it, and my unipivot wouldn't be able to handle it. Poppycock to both! Yep...dynamics are slightly better without the stabilizer, but everything else is slightly worse, including tracking. And my Morch didn't even burp when it confronted the stabilizer. Besides, the cartridge is designed as a SYSTEM...why mess with it? The stabilizer has the added benefit of cleaning microdust out of the grooves right before the stylus goes thru, and it eliminates static. Once again, this is major. In my system over the years, I've had a LOT of different cartridges. While some of them better the V15 in certain areas, I can't think of a more balanced, listenable and record friendly cartridge among them. I have to give this cartridge as a very safe recommendation. If you just want to listen to records, and not waste any more time futzing with your cartridge setup, this is your cartridge. Will I live with this cartridge long term? Audio slut that I am, maybe, maybe not. But if I don't, it's not the cartridge's fault.
Product Weakness: Your audioweenie buddies may oust you from their audioweenie circle. Seriously, this cartridge doesn't deliver THE most exciting sound out there. It just fails to get ruffled. I'm wondering now how much 'excitement' might be resonances being 'excited' by stiffer compliance cantilevers....hmmmm? Product Strengths: Listenability, lack of coloration, superb trackability, user friendliness, ease of stylus replacement.
Associated Equipment for this Review: Amplifier: Forte 4a Class A Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): AVA T7 with NOS Mullards Sources (CDP/Turntable): Teres/Morch UP4 Speakers: Magnepan MMG's Cables/Interconnects: DH Labs Music Used (Genre/Selections): All kinds Room Size (LxWxH): look it x up x Room Comments/Treatments: see my system Time Period/Length of Audition: this time around...just a few days Other (Power Conditioner etc.): Brickwall 20 amp Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner Your System (if other than home audition): this cartridge's 'sound' is easy to make..it doesn't have one!
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Topic - REVIEW: Shure V15VxMR Phono Cartridge - Marc Bratton 22:40:58 09/17/03 (16)
- Sorry to hear it! - Don T 13:45:32 09/19/03 (1)
- Re: Sorry to hear it! - Marc Bratton 16:22:06 09/19/03 (0)
- Shure V15VxMR Phono Cartridge - Goyescas 10:06:58 09/18/03 (3)
- Re: Shure V15VxMR Phono Cartridge - Marc Bratton 15:54:13 09/18/03 (2)
- Re: Shure V15VxMR Phono Cartridge - hybris 04:36:00 09/19/03 (0)
- Re: Shure V15VxMR Phono Cartridge - Goyescas 20:45:06 09/18/03 (0)
- Great All-arounder - Jerry O 10:06:31 09/18/03 (0)
- Shure V15VxMR Phono Cartridge - Marc Bratton 06:38:46 09/18/03 (0)
- Shure V15VxMR Phono Cartridge - Zack 06:23:54 09/18/03 (0)
- Shure V15VxMR Phono Cartridge - Panelhead 03:03:37 09/18/03 (0)
- Shure V15VxMR Phono Cartridge - gialitt 01:15:10 09/18/03 (0)
- Thanks for the review - evaia 01:13:52 09/18/03 (0)
- Shure V15VxMR Phono Cartridge - chuck l. 00:35:07 09/18/03 (0)
- Shure V15VxMR Phono Cartridge - datman 23:53:05 09/17/03 (0)
- Nice review Marc... - Rob Thomas 23:42:05 09/17/03 (1)
- Re: Nice review Marc... - Tre' 22:58:20 09/18/03 (0)
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