I was wondering if anyone could explain the designations on cartridges.
For example.
Shure M91ED
Shure M55EM

I' sure each manufacturer has his own coding but these are two I'm unsure about.
The only thing I know for sure is that the E is for elliptical.
What's the first M for?

Why the D and M after the ellicptical designation?:scratch2::scratch2:

Interested in other manufacturer models as well.

Thanks

:lurk:

Some designations have to do with the stylus and some with the manufacturer for whom they were supplied.

The D means Nude, so ED is nude elliptical. They are always .2 x .7.

The EM is elliptical plus a tt manufacturer designation--I don't know which. It's identical to a 55E.

You'll also see EJ, which is a .4 x .7 elliptical. HE=hyperelliptical (.2 x 1.5)
B, C, G = conical; -3=78; LT=linear tracker. And there are a host of other letters which only Shure knows (or knew, because I doubt anyone there today has any clue).

For AT, E=elliptical, LC=line contact, ML=microline, S=Shibata, a=minor revision, P=p-mount, U=univeral (really p-mount, but marketed for all arms because of the included adapter, even though the P units also included an adapter).

Now, please pass the popcorn. :)

Hey Howard.
Thanks a lot for that great explanation.
Good info on the nude stylus. I would never have guessed that.

I'm assuming the M is like an OEM designation and was sold as original on certain turntables.

I think most of my AT cartridges are lower end cause they all came from thrift shop tt's.
Most are E. I've never been in possesion of LC or ML or S. Upgrades waiting to happen.

I do appreciate the education.:yes::yes:

Actually I just had some popcorn a couple hours ago. I'll ship you some up.:thmbsp: Unpopped of course.

Needs salt!

Don't forget the butter!:lurk:

Some designations have to do with the stylus and some with the manufacturer for whom they were supplied.

The D means Nude, so ED is nude elliptical. They are always .2 x .7.

The EM is elliptical plus a tt manufacturer designation--I don't know which. It's identical to a 55E.

You'll also see EJ, which is a .4 x .7 elliptical. HE=hyperelliptical (.2 x 1.5)
B, C, G = conical; -3=78; LT=linear tracker. And there are a host of other letters which only Shure knows (or knew, because I doubt anyone there today has any clue).

For AT, E=elliptical, LC=line contact, ML=microline, S=Shibata, a=minor revision, P=p-mount, U=univeral (really p-mount, but marketed for all arms because of the included adapter, even though the P units also included an adapter).

Now, please pass the popcorn. :)
Great info Hak, this one is going into my TT info folder for reference. Since I'm more familiar with AT carts this now makes more sense in their designation numbers and how to disect it's info. Now to really pick the wise sage's wisdom what does the "X" designate for the AT 150MLX? I'm going to guess that was because of the cantelever material change to Boron from Beryllium. Waiting and eating my last bag of buttered and salted pocorn before I get "BONGED". :scratch2:

In Shure parlance, M= Magnetic Cartridge. In the early-middle 1950's Shure Brothers made only Ceramic Cartridges. In 1957, Shure introduced their Dynetic tonearm/cartridge combination. A mono magnetic which tracked at 1 gram VTF. Then came Stereo discs and the M3D Stereo Dynetic. The rest is history!