What cartridge upgrade from a Shure V15 V-MR?

If you are recommending the OM30 I hope the new model is an improvement as trouble was encountered as the theoretical ideal effective arm mass is down around --5g otherwise its quoted as "reasonable sounding " ----but the high compliance ?--has the "super " sorted that ?
As far as I know, Ortofon offered two electrically different, but mechanically compatible bodies in this line, the OM(B) and the SuperOM bodies. OM and OMB technically are the same, OMB's were just sold in bulks to TT manufactureres.
Each body can be stuffed with all the suitable Ortofon needles, starting with *afaik* Needle 3 and ending with the Fritz Gyger cut Needle 40. In addition, the Needle 78 (for monophonic shellac reproduction) will also fit. Hence, the »Super« suffix doesn't affect stylus compliance.
The OM30 has changed compliance over the years.
Mind to elaborate on this?
Best regards!
 
yeah I missed the boat on those. I did win on my AT-22 but they have doubled in price since as well as my AKG P8-ES (as soon as I found someone who could fix the suspension).
I also got two AKG P8 ES Super Nova's and a similar P25. One of my P8 ES's has been retipped with a Shibata stylus about three years ago by Axel Schürholz, who sadly passed last year. This cart works perfectly and sounds sweet! Sadly, there aren't aftermarket styli neither for the P8 ES Super Nova nor for the - compatible - P25. So I'd also be interested in a solution if you manage to find one.
Nah the original Golf GTi was superb. Not bettered by the twice the weight 4wd turbo lard bucket they sell now for driver appeal.
+1 on this! The only advantage of the recent lards named GTI appear to be the improved steel quality and corrosion resistance, apparently due to the lard :D.
Best regards!
 
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Mind to elaborate on this?
Best regards!


There were at least 3 different stylus 30 produced over the years. The original LM30 which only fits LM generators. Early stylus 30 without the notch cut and the modern ones. All different compliances (LM was over 30cu for example). Confusingly the notch appeared before the compliance change according to one source. I have never got full to the bottom of it. I have however collected a range of Ortofon DJ stylii as well for experiments as ESCO in UK can retip those. I have a friend with an OM gold with a Boron cantilever who is over the moon with it. So I would say a modern OM stylus was higher than ideal, but not silly high.


I also got two AKG P8 ES Super Nova's and a similar P25. One of my P8 ES's has been retipped with a Shibata stylus about three years ago by Axel Schürholz, who sadly passed last year. This cart works perfectly and sounds sweet! Sadly, there aren't aftermarket styli neither for the P8 ES Super Nova nor for the - compatible - P25. So I'd also be interested in a solution if you manage to find one.

Mine has an unworn vdH still on it. I have not checked if Expert can retip this, but I know my contact in Vladivostok can as he's had quite a few P8 in for rebuild. I'd love to try one of the original Clear body AKGs as well, but they are very hard to find.

And yes I know I have issues with collecting cartridges :D
 
Be aware that clear body AKG's aren't compatible with black body ones! Aftermarket or even genuine clear body styli (X8ES, *iirc*) are available, but the others not. I've asked two German vendors about the compatibility of this X8ES stylus with P8ES, and sadly they both denied and told me that there aren't any P8ES/P25 replacement styli at all.

Best regards!
 

That's a crazy price to pay just for a stylus. When I bought an AT 33EV via an American friend I could have bought 2 of these for the same price as (1) NOS stylus.

Some years ago I bought effectively an NOS Pickering 7500S complete with it's stylus and the UK designed and made pre-pre amp for £50. I wonder how much the stylus alone would go for now?

Surely there is a very real market to re-activate for not only the stylii but for the cartridges as well. This revival in LPs isn't going away.
 
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That's a crazy price to pay just for a stylus.
Eh? I linked to an advert for a 1/2 adaptor?


The market has hotted up in last 2 years. Luckily with patience there are still deals.


Surely there is a very real market to re-activate for not only the stylii but for the cartridges as well. This revival in LPs isn't going away.


There is and most of my cartridges have had work done on them. I have a number of frankencartridges done for fun and experimentation. I even found a stash of NOS AT stylii with Be cantilevers and nude shibata in australia. So I now have an ortofon Rondo with an AT cantilever on it. But my new year resolution is no more cartridges for at least 6 months or unless I sell one.
 
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Out of curiosity (I own several Dual TT's, among them two stand-alone 1229's and three more in consoles): What's your current TT's model?
Best regards!


The current Dual, which is not my main player by any chance, is tucked away in the closet.
It's the Dual 1215, on tapered walnut base w/factory dust cover - in absolutely flawless cosmetic condition - AND - fully serviced by me.
I've also modified the cuing-damping system to work "full time", instead of having to pull the arm lift lever prior to automatic operation.


Here it is next to a vintage (also pristine and modded) Harman Kardon 330A receiver....
 

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I've also modified the cuing-damping system to work "full time", instead of having to pull the arm lift lever prior to automatic operation.

This sounds weird to me, as I don't know of any Dual changer/automatic TT that needs it's cue lever to be pulled or released in addition to operate the Start lever. Maybe your's was faulty previously?

And where's your 1229 now, as this surely was the better unit of both?

Best regards!
 
yes I know the clear bodies are a seperate (and possibly better) beast. But they look so nice, (in a 70s way) I would still like one one day.


I'd not be too sure about that. In fact, I think it's quite the opposite. Anyway, a clear body P8S with an aftermarket X8ES Shibata stylus definitively is preferable over a P8ES Super Nova with a hardened suspension genuine VdH II ;).
Best regards!
 
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This sounds weird to me, as I don't know of any Dual changer/automatic TT that needs it's cue lever to be pulled or released in addition to operate the Start lever. Maybe your's was faulty previously?

And where's your 1229 now, as this surely was the better unit of both?

Best regards!


First, the 1215 has actually two methods of tonearm lift/lowering..
1) -In automatic play, the controlled damping happens *after* the tonearm starts to lower onto the record.
In other words, the arm partially drops free, only to resume lowering with damping, just before touching the record.
It is not a defect or fault, it is designed that way.


2) - And as the instruction manual states, if a very sensitive/compliant/delicate cartridge is used, *full* lowering with damping can be used by pulling the cue lever first, before activating the start/change cycle.


My simple modification always provides *full* damping in auto-mode while lowering the arm all the time without the need to even touch the cueing lever.
Just like the 1229 did.


As for that 1229 that I once owned, purchased brand new in 1974, (and I also owned a 1219 too...) both were stolen from my apartment back in 1982 by thieves, as was much of my lovely audio system too.

All those years after, I used a plain Garrard AutoSlim model, and then a BIC 960, until the late 1990's when I got a Kenwood DD linear tracking model, and then added the pristine 1215 to my toybox.
Which, by the way, is very capable of performance comparing to the higher-end Duals.
 
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Yes Linn have steadily moved the Linn LP12 up market so now a fully specced table is over £18k

How many of those upgrades are really worth the money is a question difficult to separate from marketing / brand loyalty and reality

I swapped to the later Project arm, I changed to an external Muse PSU. I did not change the bearing to a Circus as that can be a matter for debate.

I see many after market additions, many I fear are snake oil - just like the many claims for magic bearing oils.

I am not saying my LP12 could not be improved, but where does the really noticeable change sit and at what cost.

I can confirm that damping the LP12 subchassis and bolting the arm board to it makes an audible and measurable difference.

The tonearm, have you got the damping kit for 9C.
ORACLE Audio Silicone Damping Kit for Pro-Ject Music Hall 9cc or Paris Tonearms | eBay

The biggest upgrade you can make to a TT is resonance damping/control. Any resonance in the system will modulate onto the audio signal. Subsonic filters will remove the fundamental but not the intermodulated artifacts.

Look at the measurements I did here on an EPA100 that made an audible difference.

Technics EPA100 modifications
 
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Any turntable manufacturer that mounts a tonearm in a seperate way from the platter is poor engineering.
Like bolting the tonearm to the plinth, and then suspending the platter on a seperate "sub chassis".
That's nuts, simply bad sense.


The tonearm MUST be rigidly connected to the platter mounting too - absolutely NO possible flexing between the two.


As for any sub-sonic rumble or feedback issues, they can easily be eliminated by using a simple Sallen-Key filter system - because no one needs to hear anything below 20Hz - there's nothing worth hearing there but noise.
 
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I'd not be too sure about that. In fact, I think it's quite the opposite. .
Best regards!


I'll take your word for it. Very difficult to find facts on the generations of P8 on the internet, but plenty of 'internet lore'. Also not clear the relationship (if any) between AKG and Ortofon given the similarity of their generators (and a format not seen anywhere else).


As for any sub-sonic rumble or feedback issues, they can easily be eliminated by using a simple Sallen-Key filter system - because no one needs to hear anything below 20Hz - there's nothing worth hearing there but noise.


Sorry that is wrong. Infrasonics modulates the wanted signal and the damage is done and cannot be filtered out in the analog domain, must be done mechanically at the point of generation.
 
My old MK1 Dais has the tonearm mounting as part of the outer platter in one piece of metal but its three point springs attached to the bottom base which supports the inner platter has one that can be "tuned " to remove exactly what you are complaining about Billshurv --its even marked as such.
 
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In which case it's doing it wrong. Damping trough is good. Damped counterweight good as well (used by dual and others). Sony biotracer good. Well tempered good. Moerch good. What you describe does not sound good. Ideally you want to damp at the cartridge, and the Rock turntable did that, but its messy.