For "Cryin' out LOUD

John Casler · « **on:** 8 Aug 2004, 11:11 pm »

Always wanted to write that!!

I just spent the better part of 2-3 hours calibrating and recalibrating my Shure SME 3009 Series II arm.

Man I just couldn't get the cartridge to track period.

It started a few weeks ago when I pulled out the arm and Silclear'd the pins. Stuck it back in and it wouldn't track. Figured I clumsily had put too much pressure on the arm and "uncalibrated" something.

Well, After redoing the antiskating, balance, VTA, and all, the darn thing "STILL" wouldn't track.

Well finally pulled the arm again and looked at the cartridge under a magnifying glass.

"NO TIP"

The freakin diamond was gone. So looks like that Shure V-15xMR is gonna happen next week.

http://V15VxMR

Supposed to be a good match to the SME arm

WEEZ · « **Reply #1 on:** 9 Aug 2004, 12:33 am »

Yeah...

Happened to me setting up a friend's vinyl rig once. Sometimes vinyl can be a pain in the a--, but- it can also be worth it in the end.

Enjoy the V15 when you get it-. It should work extreemly well w/ the SME arm. Let us know how it sounds

regards,

WEEZ

mgalusha · « **Reply #2 on:** 9 Aug 2004, 03:13 am »

I gave away my old thorens about three years ago and it had a V15 on it. I don't know what I was thinking.

Wish I had that cartridge back. Sorry to hear about the missing stylus tip but I'm sure you'll enjoy the new one.

orthobiz · « **Reply #3 on:** 9 Aug 2004, 03:27 am »

I'll bet your stylus tip is in one of those old records you cleaned with the Rec-O-Vac. If the 70's were as "hazy" as you implied in one of your other recent posts, you probably had a strange resin-laden LP that just pulled out the needle like Crazyglue! That vacuum can sure pull weird stuff out of the air...javascript:emoticon('8)')javascript:emoticon(':nono:')

biz

John Casler · « **Reply #4 on:** 9 Aug 2004, 04:24 pm »

Quote from: orthobiz

I'll bet your stylus tip is in one of those old records you cleaned with the Rec-O-Vac. If the 70's were as "hazy" as you implied in one of your other recent posts, you probably had a strange resin-laden LP that just pulled out the needle like Crazyglue! That vacuum can sure pull weird stuff out of the air...javascript:emoticon('8)')javascript:emoticon(':nono:')

biz

Well, my "sordid" past was not quite that "hazed", but I will say I certainly had much fun. (actually I still am

)

Plus, I always played the album with the dustcover on.

and down

Strangely enough my clearer thinking brain, has no told me that the product was actually called "VacOrec".

Someone emailed me the other day and said these things are going for auction, but in doing a search I saw where "HI-FI Tommy" says they aren't too good.

Back then a Dual 1219 with Shure M91E was just fine. Times have changed

Tonto Yoder · « **Reply #5 on:** 9 Aug 2004, 06:10 pm »

I would have bet money that they were called "Rec-O-Vac". Good thing I didn't since eBay clearly shows the name was indeed Vac-O-Rec.
I'm not sure that the THEORY behind the gear is bad, but they were built to a fairly low price so the executiion couldn't have been very high

PJ · « **Reply #6 on:** 10 Aug 2004, 04:02 am »

What is the general opinion on the Shure V-15xMR?

The only reason I ask is my new Shure Whitelabel DJ carts are internally identical to the Shure V-15xMR...or so Shure says.

Naturally the suspension etc are different as the cart is designed for back-cueing etc, although it is not a "scratch" cartridge.

michael w · « **Reply #7 on:** 10 Aug 2004, 05:07 am »

Geez I would hate to see the condition of the record you did the setup with.

The Shure is pretty good VFM.
Not as detailed or transparent as a good MC, has a darkish tonal balance but is very musical.
Being a Shure it tracks anything this side of a double pepperoni with extra cheese.

At it's best in a good arm, feeding a high quality good phono stage.

John Casler · « **Reply #8 on:** 15 Aug 2004, 07:29 pm »

Well the Shure arrived!!!!

Now I haven't ever really changed too many cartridges, so this is very "fine" work.

After pulling one of the small clips loose from one of those incredibly tiny leads and having to solder it back on, I finally got the arm (Shure 3009 Series II) recalibrated and fired it up.

Strangely enough it wasn't tracking will and needed about 1/4 gram more force.

I assume it needs a few hours for the suspension to "loosen up" so I wasn't expecting too much.

Fired up SuperTramp "Brother Where You Bound".

It was very good!!

For anyone looking for a good reference album this one is "VERY GOOD"

Later, I tried Steely Dan's Greatest Hits and it sucked big time

Looks like I might be in the market for a phono stage also.

I currently use a vintage Onkyo P303 preamp section, and it has a hum/putting noise at a very low level (which strangely enough doesn't seem to be there until I have played the whole side of an album. (even though the P303 is "always on")

But in any event, went through several albums this morning and it sounds great.

Doors/Soft Parade
Tull's/Aqualung
SuperTramps/Tightrope

All sounded "VERY" good. Only criticism right now is a bit of a soft bass liine and that stupid hum/gurgling noise, which is so low it is not evident during playback.

Lucky me, I have a couple hundred special pressing (Japanese/British/MFSL/other) albums that have been played very little or not at all

WEEZ · « **Reply #9 on:** 15 Aug 2004, 07:41 pm »

The bass will almost surely improve when the V15 breaks-in a little.

Some of the rock lp's used a lot of compression in the recording process so you may never hear much bass on those- it just isn't there.

Play some good recordings and pressings- and it will likely make you dis-appointed with some of your cd's.

Enjoy,

WEEZ

John Casler · « **Reply #10 on:** 16 Aug 2004, 03:41 am »

Quote from: WEEZ

The bass will almost surely improve when the V15 breaks-in a little.

Some of the rock lp's used a lot of compression in the recording process so you may never hear much bass on those- it just isn't there.

Play some good recordings and pressings- and it will likely make you dis-appointed with some of your cd's.

Enjoy,

WEEZ

Hi Weez,

I will say that the "sound" of analog vinyl is very different from digital.

I actually like both, for their good qualities.

The bass I was getting today was actually OK in "quantity" it was just a little "wooly" or soft. This may have been the album (Aqualung/Jethro Tull) since back then they wanted the bass just to fill in the whole foundation.

The SuperTramp bass was tighter, but less of it.

Gotta lot of albums to cruise through and too little time.