Distortion in Shure V15IV

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I have a Shure V15IV phonograph cartridge, with the original stylus, that came installed on a Pioneer PL-518 turntable. This cartridge produces pronounced distortion when playing my lps. My other cartridge, a Shure M97HE, produces clean sound when playing the same records on the same turntable, and I know how to properly set up a cartridge, so the problem is definitely in the V15IV.

My question: is it likely that the problem lies in the cartridge body itself, or in the stylus? I have thought about ordering a replacement stylus, but would prefer not to waste the time or money if the stylus is not at fault. Can anyone help?
 
no help

I've got a Shure V15 labeled "Era IV" on the front, that I bought about 1980. It still works great! However, rubber deteriorates and no other cartridge I have owned has lasted this long. Get a cheap toy microscope at the charity resale shop, look at your stylus. If it is not a smooth ellipse, ie it has a crack, then buying a new stylus is a good idea. If the stylus looks nice and smooth, then throw the cartridge away and buy a new one. I've owned a1961 ADC cartridge and a 1970 Grado FTE cartridge, the ADC had hard rubber in 1970 and the Grado was bad by 1980. Hard rubber cartridges can't track extreme bass lines. My V15 is doing ZZ Top's "Afterburner" just fine, loudest bass line I own.
 
Thanks indianajo and thetube0a3. I may have to get an SAS stylus to satisfy my curiosity.

Of all the Shure cartridges I tried,only the type IV has a rubber that becomes hard and totally non compliant.All other Shure cartridge's suspension rubbers become soft.Touch the tip lightly and see if the cantilever moves up and down or it is hard to move.In case of the later(most probably)then the rubber is useless.In this case a SAS is the best choice.
 
Hi

I have owned a V15 Type 111 and Type 1V for a long time. I bought them at the same time about 12 years ago as nos but never used them until this week. The Type 111 has a VN35HE stylus and the Type 1V has the stylus with the little brush and just "SHURE" on the front stylus carrier.

I tried them both during the past few days and first played them on TTR110 and both tracked all bands with no problems. Both carts were mounted on the same type Micro headshells, tracking at 1.4g VTF on my Micro Seiki BL-51 with CF-1 arm.

Last night, I asked someone to help me listen to decide which one we liked best and eventually, we unanimously decided it was the Type 1V as it produced less surface noise and was less harsh-sounding with brass instruments.

After our tests were over, I was interested to find out why the Type 111 sounded the way it did and tapped the headshell with a little pan stylus brush.

To my surprise, I discovered it was grossly microphonic and today, I had a chance to do something about that. I found the loose and floppy stylus guard responsible and inserted two very small rubber washers over the stylus guard lugs.

Both cartridges now performs identically and the microphonics on the Type 111 is no longer an issue.

I'm not sure if you have access to a test record (such as Shure's own), as this will give you a correct diagnosis of what the problem is.

bulgin
 

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Bulgin : isn't 1.4G a bit on the heavy side for a V15 cartridge? I thought the recommended range was .75 to 1.25G.

I used to track at .75G without problems when I had an SME arm. On my Technics SL-1800 MK II I find I need 1G to 1.25G to be comfortable.



I standard corrected. It seems recommended tracking is .75G to 1.5G.
p.s. I use Shure's test record.
 
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Bulgin : isn't 1.4G a bit on the heavy side for a V15 cartridge? I thought the recommended range was .75 to 1.25G.

I used to track at .75G without problems when I had an SME arm. On my Technics SL-1800 MK II I find I need 1G to 1.25G to be comfortable.



I standard corrected. It seems recommended tracking is .75G to 1.5G.
p.s. I use Shure's test record.

Hi thetubeOa3

I am so used to playing other carts (mostly mc's) at around 2g. "Other" mm carts like AT's, I play at 1.6 to 1.8g. I know the V15's were 'special' and famed for their light VTF. Yet, it was kind of difficult for me to go as low as 1.4g due to long-acquired habits of playing cartridges above 1.5g.

Regards

bulgin
 
You know what really amazed me about the V15 and the SME arm was It was able to play a badly warped record I had. Every other tonearm catridge combo the stylus would literally get thrown into another groove from the way the record was warped.

The V15 + SME was not only able to stay in the groove, it tracked it near perfect. you were able to watch the stylus hardly even move in the cartridge from the force and this was at .75g. The SME arm was a type III with the fluid damper installed. Without the damper reservoir it was unable to play the record.

Was truly impressive.
 
Thanks to all for the replies. I did check the suspension as Panicos suggested, and it was as stiff as a board. My other Shure cartridge from that era, the M97HE, still has a soft and compliant suspension.

I just today ordered a Jico SAS stylus for the V15 Type IV. I am looking forward to trying it out.
 
The site seems to be acting a little wonky and did not appear to accept my previous post, so I am trying again. Please excuse if this ends up being a duplicate post.

Thanks to all for the replies. I tested the supension on my V15 Type IV as Panicos suggested, and it was as stiff as a board. My other cartridge from that era, the Shure M97HE, has a suspension that is still soft and compliant.

Just today I ordered a Jico SAS stylus for the V15. I look forward to trying it out.
 
I received my Jico SAS stylus for the Shure V15 Type IV this week and installed it yesterday. The SAS fit perfectly into the V15 cartridge body. The damper brush does not quite meet the standard of the original Shure stylus, but overall the quality of the SAS seems high.

Jico recommends a tracking force of 1.25g for the SAS, and Shure specifies .75g as the lowest tracking force for the V15. Shure says the damper brush removes .5g , so they recommend setting it .5g higher than the desired VTF. I did not know if the SAS brush acted exactly in the same way as the original Shure, so I set the VTF to 1.25 instead of 1.75.

I mounted the cartridge on a Technics SL-1210 M5G, using the supplied Technics overhang gauge and a protractor from the Hi-Fi News test LP. The Technics turntable has a measured capacitance from cartridge connector to RCA plug of under 70pf for each cable. I connected the TT to an Onkyo receiver with a phono input impedance of 50Kohm (input capacitance not specified). I listened through my ancient but trusty Koss Pro4AA headphones.

In short, this is the best cartridge to which I have listened, and the combination with the Technics turntable seems like a match made in heaven. It tracked every LP I tested with ease, it had a rich sound with plenty of transient response but no annoying treble spike, nice, full bass, good clarity and transparency. And, if it is not obvious, not a trace of the distortion whidh the original stylus produced and which prompted me to begin this thread. Again, thanks to all for the suggestions. I am quite grateful.
 
I received my Jico SAS stylus for the Shure V15 Type IV this week and installed it yesterday. The SAS fit perfectly into the V15 cartridge body. The damper brush does not quite meet the standard of the original Shure stylus, but overall the quality of the SAS seems high.

Jico recommends a tracking force of 1.25g for the SAS, and Shure specifies .75g as the lowest tracking force for the V15. Shure says the damper brush removes .5g , so they recommend setting it .5g higher than the desired VTF. I did not know if the SAS brush acted exactly in the same way as the original Shure, so I set the VTF to 1.25 instead of 1.75.

I mounted the cartridge on a Technics SL-1210 M5G, using the supplied Technics overhang gauge and a protractor from the Hi-Fi News test LP. The Technics turntable has a measured capacitance from cartridge connector to RCA plug of under 70pf for each cable. I connected the TT to an Onkyo receiver with a phono input impedance of 50Kohm (input capacitance not specified). I listened through my ancient but trusty Koss Pro4AA headphones.

In short, this is the best cartridge to which I have listened, and the combination with the Technics turntable seems like a match made in heaven. It tracked every LP I tested with ease, it had a rich sound with plenty of transient response but no annoying treble spike, nice, full bass, good clarity and transparency. And, if it is not obvious, not a trace of the distortion whidh the original stylus produced and which prompted me to begin this thread. Again, thanks to all for the suggestions. I am quite grateful.


Now,that's good news.Your stylus will sound even better after a few hours use.It is common to all SAS styluses to track at 1.0-1.5 gr,so this may be a little different than the original stylus.It would be interesting if you try to play it at 1.25 gr and without the brush.Have a listen to it this way,and decide if you need the damping offered by the brush.If yes,try some higher tracking forces with the brush down and see if things are getting even better.
 
tube,

Thanks for the suggestion to buy a VTF gauge. It has been on my list for a while. Is the present-day Shure gauge any good? Or do you recommend another?

Panicos,

Thanks again for your original suggestion to test the Shure stylus compliance. That was the test that decided for me to purchase the SAS, and I'm glad I did. Once I get a VTF gauge, I'll try some more tuning to see what results I can get. Better performance than I get now? That WOULD be something!
 
tube,

Thanks for the suggestion to buy a VTF gauge. It has been on my list for a while. Is the present-day Shure gauge any good? Or do you recommend another?

Panicos,

Thanks again for your original suggestion to test the Shure stylus compliance. That was the test that decided for me to purchase the SAS, and I'm glad I did. Once I get a VTF gauge, I'll try some more tuning to see what results I can get. Better performance than I get now? That WOULD be something!

Well,I don't know if it will be better,but you have nothing to loose if you try it:)
 
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This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.