Just A Little Note In Advance About The Shure M97xE Phono Cartridge
Apr 18 '07 (Updated Jun 25 '07)
The Bottom Line Is Shure's new king best in its class? We'll see. It certainly is the best looking.
It was kinda sad to see Shure Bros. post a message a couple of years ago about their discontinuing the mighty king of magnetic phono cartridges...the Shure V-15 Type VxMR. This no doubt sent a shockwave out to the many faithful vinyl lovers and Shure cartridge fans that have come to know the V as the best ever Shure yet! The king is dead. Long live the king!
This unfortunate decision by Shure however means that the M97xE is the new heir to the throne. I've made some preliminary statements about this cartridge and made mention of the fact that although it does represent good value in modern analog playing...it somehow lacked that special magic or emotion...if you will...that is the very essence of high end listening.
Now I must also mention to you that when I did have this cartridge in my posession a few years ago...its street price was about ninety bucks. You know my feelings about cartridges over $50. They had better be damn good because my $50 Ortofon OM5E performs rather well and I have yet to hear anything at its price point that can dethrone it as king of the cheapies.
Still, the M97xE with its highly brushed aluminum resonance absorbing body with really cool looking blue stylus assembly featuring the wonderful viscuous damped stabilizer that handles warps and debris in fine fashion warranted me thinking that it certainly was easy on the eyes and more importantly...the ears and very well could be a sleeper.
The deal was back then that I would test the unit in a Dual 1200 series tonearm for a couple of hours then pass it on for some much needed cash. I did...and rather reluctantly at that.
After some time passed by and I grew with this wonderful website...I found that some of my most faithful readers urged me to give a full-fledged report on the item. They also had some insight into the matter that I wasn't really aware of at the time.
It may very well be that the M97xE is not best suited to the 1200 series Duals/PE's as these low mass arms worked well with older Shure hi-tracks that lacked the viscuous damping of more recent Shures! I'm not so sure that it's that as much as the fact that I used a very basic vintage 10 watt/ch Pioneer SA-500 integrated amp during the listen. Although this little amp is good, it is certainly not the equal to my amazing AudioSource Amp 100 which reveals every little detail and subtlety from various sources. I have also been tipped off by others that tell me of more recent Shures with stabilizers working well in a Pioneer PL-518 turntable/tonearm that I now myself own.
Well this really aroused my curiosity and am now ready to fully test the unit again with the idea of permanent ownership as opposed to borrowing one. But what about my New Year's pledge and resolution I made to you that I would not report on any phono cartridge costing more than $50?
Good news! My unit is arriving to me for the sum of fifty bucks as a special promotion from my very loyal friends at one of my favorite hi-fi shops. It will be a dealer's demo. This also signals to me that if I can get the M97xE at this price...well...so can you ...at least in the very near future. I've seen the Amazon street price falling closer and closer to the mark!
Obviously too...the more people that return to vinyl the more cartridge and needle sales will rise. As the M97xE becomes more popular...prices will continue to drop and that is just great for us po' folk.
At any rate...my big purchase will be made shortly and I promise you that a full report on this latest top-of-the-line model will appear here on EPINIONS soon. User "Dkozin" will have to assist me again in providing a slot for the popular Shure here on the site. If for some dumb reason this cannot be accomplished...I will make my report in the "Writers Corner" should all else fail.
One thing is for certain about the M97xE...it is a great cure for mistracking of sibilants {especially on the inner grooves} that other cartridges exhibit. This little edginess can lead to listener fatigue and ho-humness quicker than anything. I am also receiving feedback from Rega owners that the Shure mates extremely well in Rega tonearms...especially the RB250. There is no substitute for proper tonearm/cartridge matching as each arm has its own damping characteristic.
God bless you all and thanks for your tremendous response and emails!...PJSII
Please see these reviews that talk of the M97xE...http://www.epinions.com/content_4327645316
http://www.epinions.com/content_84394544772
http://www.epinions.com/content_381850586756
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
sam-pro
|
 - Top 500 |
|
Member: Peter J Sammon II
Location: The Bloomfield Burying Ground, USA
Reviews written: 218
Trusted by: 121 members
About Me:
Every once in awhile something great arrives at relatively low cost to you...Priceless!
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.