Shure V15 III mounting to a AR XA headshell

JeffPro

New Member
Sorry, newbie questions...

I have a V15 III coming in, supposed original Super Track stylus - noted as used, with unknown hours.
Will be mounting it to a AR XA (single motor table) head shell - I have the original head shell, and a black reproduction.

There does not appear to be much adjustment to be made when mounting these fore and aft, or angle adjustment unless you use shims - which I do not have at the moment. Do you think this will be necessary?
Is there a reference anywhere for mounting this combo?

Using a magnifier, anything I could identify on the stylus that would tell me what level of wear the tip has or at least if it can be damaging to the vinyl? Any images to reference for wear?

Thank you, Jeff
 
Although I am hapless at this task myself....... just get a decent protractor and line it up best you can. Those Shure V15 are pretty forgiving and will track well. As to seeing wear, I think you need serious magnification to "really" see.

Lastly, if it is far enough out of align the inner grooves (last song or two) on an LP should tell you. That has been my experience when I was out of align, I got terrible sibilance and it sounded horrible. No mistaking it that it was bad.

I have a V15 III, IV and V and love them all. However I do not run them on my AR TT. My XA had the arm replaced by Marc but the ES and EB both have stock arms and I run MC on them. It was a big investment (as much as or more than TT itself) but I think worth it.

If you search there is an AR TT Owners forum on here and you may do better posting / searching there?
 
If you look on the under side of the armtube going into the pivot block, you see a set screw that holds the tube securely.
Pull the spindle out of the tonearm bearing well and turn the tonearm upside down on the plinth.
Measure from the center of the spindle to the stylus tip, 226mm.
You may need to slightly loosen the set screw and carefully adjust the length of the armtube in the block. Remember there are tonearm wires inside.
This effective length will get you very close to ideal.
You can adjust azmith somewhat this way also.
Shims may or may not be needed for the Shure V15.
It depends on the platter mat thinkness and height of the spindle in the bearing well.
I've used paint stir sticks, cut to fit, for shims. Also packing tape folded thick.
Whatever you have on hand.

Clean that stylus good with alcohol and a stylus brush.
Maybe dipping it in magic eraser will help.
Visually evaluating a diamond is tricky. Not my forte.
Marc Morin is the ultimate word on these tables.
Check out the AR owners thread.
 
I would suggest looking for accu trak ar xa in google images. Print it to scale based on the reference marks. It's really convenient for checking alignment.
Found it, thanks, so what is the difference between the Stevenson, Baerwald, and Loefgren labeled points?
 
Found it, thanks, so what is the difference between the Stevenson, Baerwald, and Loefgren labeled points?
Found it on the Accutrak site - interesting. Always a compromise.
Which alignment to use? This is a question that is asked often enough that I feel the need to address it here. For those who want a technical explanation, I suggest going to the vinylengine website or to the vinyl section of the audio asylum web site. I'll post links to those sites once I obtain permission to do so. For those who want just a basic explanation, here it is:
Baerwald - Is the same as Loefgren A. This alignment produces the lowest average distortion across the whole LP. It is the most common alignment in use today.
Loefgren - Meaning Loefgren B. This alignment produces less distortion through the center portion of an LP with slightly more distortion at the beginning and end of the LP.
Stevenson - This alignment produces less distortion at the inner grooves. It is probably more beneficial for classical LP's as often the most intense part of a piece of classical music tends to occur toward the end of the piece (at the inner grooves).
 
Found it on the Accutrak site - interesting. Always a compromise.
Which alignment to use? This is a question that is asked often enough that I feel the need to address it here. For those who want a technical explanation, I suggest going to the vinylengine website or to the vinyl section of the audio asylum web site. I'll post links to those sites once I obtain permission to do so. For those who want just a basic explanation, here it is:
Baerwald - Is the same as Loefgren A. This alignment produces the lowest average distortion across the whole LP. It is the most common alignment in use today.
Loefgren - Meaning Loefgren B. This alignment produces less distortion through the center portion of an LP with slightly more distortion at the beginning and end of the LP.
Stevenson - This alignment produces less distortion at the inner grooves. It is probably more beneficial for classical LP's as often the most intense part of a piece of classical music tends to occur toward the end of the piece (at the inner grooves).

The turn table comes with this handy gauge, are you familiar with its usage? :idea:
images
 
Back
Top Bottom