Shure M74cs vs New Shure M97xe

Recently I have been trying to fix a pioneer pl516 with no luck, but thats a different story and thread. I also aquired a panasonic SL-H201 from an old electronics dealer "new" in the box fitted with an M74cs. I had bought a Shure M97xe for the pioneer. Anyway, both carts and needles are new and I am going to use the panasonic for now since it sounds better than my cheap Audio Technica lp60. I was wandering whic cart would probably give me a betters sound. Should I put the M97xe on the panasonic since the M74cs has a conical stylus or is purchasing and eleptical stylus for it worth the money, I know that some have bad things to say about the m97xe.
Also if anyone has any info on the SL-h201, please let me know as the internet has no info on this tt.

G'day mate, I think that the M97xE will be a much better cartridge. According to the Shure website the M74cs is a very budget cartridge with a 2 to 4 gram tracking weight range and the M97xE tracks optimally at a much lighter 1.25 grams.

The M97xE is a quirky/ fussy cartridge, but is excellent if set up properly. I have three of them, all in use. This page is worth a read. http://www.mds975.co.uk/Content/vinyl07.html
Regards, Felix aka catman.

The M74 is part of the M70 through to M90 family...

They are "musical" - they do lots of things right...

And from the V15III onwards they were replaced by the V15III/IV/V and M95/97 families.

(the earlier ones have the rectangular bodies, the later ones have the V bottom bodies)

The later ones are theoretically better (and in the case of the V15III/IV/V they also have laminated poles)

Due to the more sophisticated magnetic construction they have less High frequency dropoff - so you get more detail, more air, less grain, etc...

On the other hand, the earlier series are much less finicky, easier to use, easier to setup, and sound consistently good.

You can fit a wide range of styli to the M74 body... which gives a lot of flexibility...

The original N74CS
http://www.turntableneedles.com/Shure-N74CS-Needle-760-D7_p_1383.html
Conical stylus, VTF 3g, best matched to a mid to heavy arm

N75EJ
http://www.turntableneedles.com/Needle-760-DEJ_p_1386.html
Basic Eliptical - tracks better, will get more detail from the records
best matched with a mid mass arm

N75ED
http://www.turntableneedles.com/Needle-760-DED_p_1075.html
Upper grade eliptical - another step up, this makes it into a very nice cartridge - same level of stylus as on the M97xE
Best suited to a low mass arm

N75HE
http://www.turntableneedles.com/Shure-N75HE-Needle-760-DHE-copy_p_1076.html
HyperEliptical, this is the lowest level of line contact needle... another step up in resolution, tracking ability, etc...
Best suited to a low mass arm

N75HE - SAS
http://www.turntableneedles.com/JICO-SAS-type-760-DSAS-for-Shure-N75HE_p_3978.html
MicroRidge - SAS stylus - this is the ultimate for this type of body, pretty much as far as you can take it (short of custom built exotica).
Again takes everything that one step further.
Best suited to a low mass arm

Now to the M97xE

taken on its own without the brush it is around the same level as the M74 when fitted with the N75ED needle. But the marginally better body may give the M97 an edge (subtle though...)
The high compliance of the needle suspension requires a low mass arm to give its best.
BUT: - flip the brush down, and suddenly it can give its best on a mid or even mid-heavy mass arm.... a truly magical bit of design work!

Styli:

N97xE
The original item

N97xE-SAS
http://www.turntableneedles.com/JICO-SAS-needle-77x3-Dsas-N97xe-for-Shure-M97xE_p_3953.html
The SAS stylus for the M97.... this takes the M97xE and turns it into a very serious audiophile performer.
Best suited to a low mass arm if used with brush up
Matches low through to mid-heavy arms with brush down.


Prices pretty much follow the performance potential.... the SAS N75 is around $140 and the SAS M97 is around $180.

These are all good value for money given the performance they provide.

The M97xE is pretty much unbeatable in the bang for the buck stakes, and the fact that it can mate well with the vast majority of tables/arms.

The M74 will always sound different to the M97, and some people prefer that sound - but if I had to pick one single cartridge to live with, I would choose the one with the brush.

bye for now

David

Thanks for the advice took the time to put the M97xe on today, and it sounded much better. However, for some reason this cartridge will not get very loud, would this have to do with my receivers preamp?

G'day mate, that's probably normal. Although the specifications don't suggest it, the M97xE is slightly lower output than most typical moving magnet cartridges.

Just ensure that the stylus is fully inserted as that can reduce output too if it is not fully inserted into the cartridge body. Regards, Felix aka catman.

One of the ways that higher output is generated, is using larger magnets...

unfortunately the magnets are attached to the cantilever/stylus - and therefore there is more intertia / mass - so you get more loudness, but less agility and dynamics, as the inertia makes it harder for the stylus to track higher frequencies and react to dynamic changes...

If you read the specs of many TOTL MM designs of the last 30 years, you will discover that where the mid-range models often have 5mv output, the TOTL models will have 3mV output or sometimes as low as 1.5mV.

I'll trade more volume for more music any day!! :thmbsp:

(in other words.. this is normal!)

Very informative thread. Thanks, guys!

I checked it out and you were right catman the stylus was not fully inserted into the cartridge body. Thank you now I can finnaly sit back and enjoy my records.

G'day mate, great stuff! :thmbsp: I'm always happy to help if I can. Regards, Felix aka catman.

I was reading elsewhere and the M97xE seems a lot of bang for the buck.
It became one on the list for my Miracord AT96E replacements.
I'm just working up a list slowly, then will chop it down until I decide what I'm going to do with the Miracord.
I'm not happy now with the AT96E the way it is - either upgrade the stylus or just find a cart replacement.
I thought I was okay with it until I slipped in my other TT this afternoon - then I noticed what I was missing.