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Hi all,
I just got a Shure M97xE put on my Pro-ject Debut Carbon Esprit. As discussed previously on here, I downgraded from a way better cart because I play so many records that it's not cost-efficient for me to have a pricey one. Anyway...
I am really enjoying it-great value for the $$-but there's a slight hitch. I've been using a Michell clamp for a while now and when the Shure hits the run-out groove, it scrapes up against the clamp. Sometimes, it bounces back across the vinyl slightly, though it never loses touch with the surface.
My question: Is this putting uneven wear on the stylus? Is it bad for the tone arm? It seems harmless enough but I wanted to check and see if I'm doing any damage beyond the usual.
Best,
WJ
Follow Ups:
excellent way to ruin a cartridge.
Thanks everyone for all the input. As I said, I ended up ordering a smaller clamp, which should rectify things.
That said, I kind of like the sound of my system better WITHOUT a clamp. Everything pops a little more and feels more open. Not as detailed but warmer and more and more alive. Interesting.
Best,
WJ
That
s what I was gonna suggest> Over the decades I've realised that Add on's are often /usually a waste of time often even detrimental.
But Hey! they look Kool :-)
yup, my v15Vxmr collided with my sota reflex clamp. i switched to my orsonic clamp which is now about $90.
there's also the kab clamp with 3" diameter. pretty certain it would clear the shure.
search around a bit on the kab site, you may find other things you can use.
...regards...tr
I use a Michell clamp both on a Michell Orbe and a TW Acustic Raven. While I've never used Shure cartridge I have used Benz, Goldring and Miyajima. None heve ever had issue with colliding with the clamp. The clamp is smaller than the inner label. My first question is have you checked your antiskate setting? If you manually set stylus at the edge of where it should stop (platter not rotating)does it still hit the clamp? What about an auto tonearm lift add-on? I think you can place them where you want to so the arm is lifted before the stylus reaches a certain point.
There certainly are plenty of other clamps out here. The older VPI one may be smaller than the Michell.
Hi, Roastaman,
My Dynavector 17D3 cartridge would often bump up against the Michell Orbe clamp on my Gyro SE. The stylus never jumped out of the runout groove but there'd be an awful sound as the cartridge body scraped against the clamp. Far worse than fingernails on a chaulkboard. '-)
Regards,
Tom
I was looking at the Shure cart's listed in the AA ads. Is the stylus guard removable? It looks as if the side pins(?) of the guard may be the issue.??
We should assume that any cartridge is designed for near zero lateral force. So bumping into the clamp with sufficient momentum to make it skip grooves is definitely not within its intended performance envelope. Thinking just in terms of the cartridge, I would never let that happen no more than I would go over and push the cartridge across a record without cueing it.
I appreciate your plan using the Shure cart to go through a load of records. I'm doing a major year+ long 'thinning the herd' using a sweet little vintage Sony DD turntable- fully automatic! It makes it easy to listen to a lot of LPs. It sounds surprisingly decent and works well with an ADC XLMii-Improved cart (but I look forward to putting my Dynavector XX back in service when this record 'curation' is done!)
You might not want to deal with this, just an idea: disassemble the clamp and have your local general-purpose machine shop chuck the disc portion on a lathe and reduce the diameter a few mm. It should be a 10-minute job. You could leave a little shiny aluminum beveled edge since as the machining will cut off the anodizing. You'd be a "modder" then, how cool is that?
Okay, after some poking around, it appears that this is *definitely* a bad look and should be rectified ASAP.
For now, that means playing without a clamp, which isn't the end of the world but I definitely feel it improves sound quality. Is there a clamp known to be smaller diameter-wise than the Michell?
Best,
WJ
Lounge Audio makes a record weight/"clamp" that is 2.75 inches diameter, weighs 330 or so grams, and is about $50 US. That is fairly skinny for a clamp. Don't know if it would be enough to solve your problem though.
I ended up going with Pro-Ject's heavy duty clamp, which is also smaller.
Okay, some poking around taught me that the Pro-ject heavyweight Puck doodad is about .5" less wide than the Michell. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but problem solved, I think!
WJ
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