Phono Cartridge Shootout II

[@EnzoBalsamoprofessionaldj]

Shure M44E w/Jico elliptical stylus , the best

[@frankgeeraerts6243]

Yes , it stands out and does everything right with good balance and easy to enjoy the music !

[@tammyharrison700]

Shure's are great but a few models have much higher output voltage and so sound louder but not necessarily better!

[@trystrat]

Yes

[@yhenry77]

The Sure V15 III cartridge has been in my system, since I started into HI-Fi many years ago. I would recommend the following vinyl records to test cartridges and setup: Neil Young (Harvest), Frank Sinatra (I Remember Tommy), The Doobie Brothers (Living on the Fault Line), Randy Travis (Storms of Life), Carpenters (Rainy Days & Mondays), Norah Jones (Nightingale), RCA (Living Stereo) 50's to 60's. I use these records for speaker setup.

[@PM-eg2do]

Also would be great to have the exact minute:second markings for each cart. It really helps compare multiple cartridges in quick A-B test back and forth.

[@matereo]

Impossible to hear which is best without them being level adjusted.. very big differences

[@seeyouinmist3924]

AT120E for sheer zing and detail, but Empire has all that and a smooth gloss - so would say Empire is the best

[@el34glo59]

Agreed.

[@7JANEWAY]

It would be nice if you posted the times of each demo like you did on your first video, so it's easier to compare the various carts.

[@paw45]

My ears percieve that the AT120 and OM10 are a tie for the two that sound best over my Sony SRS-XB20 Bluetooth speaker. Connected to my 13 or 14 year old (Dinosaur) Gateway FX P7805U 17" desktop replacement laptop thru a 3.5mm audio cord. That laptop is still running on the original power brick and the original battery only holds a 30 minute charge. I'm surprised the battery even holds a charge considering its age.

[@ruskreeder2434]

Of course, the output levels aren't balanced, so it's kind of hard. But my initial blind impressions without peeking: 1. Something wrong. Out of balance in frequency response. 2. Good, weak bass. 3. Too bright. 4. Better, more balanced. 5. Good, balanced and open. 6. Rolled off top. 7. Lower output but good balance. 8. Good but mushy bass. 9. Very good, open. 10. Lower output but good and open. 11. Lower output, good but rolled off upper midrange.

[@robertpincus6528]

As usual the Shure's are the most tonally neutral, the Grado is the warmest, the Ortofon is hyped up for the masses. A harder to play LP would have made this a much better comparison. You have to work hard to make Brothers In Arms sound bad, although the Ortofon managed to do it! And, BTW, the Shure M44E sure sounds like the winner. Dang!

[@el34glo59]

Anyone not listing the empire is crazy. Smooth yet detailed. Although not my favorite empire model. The 600 LAC would smoke alot of these guys. Wish you were testing that one.

[@hurkamur1]

Wow! way different results this go around. I went back and fourth between my first and second pick so many times, but ultimately my ears tell me. 1. AT120E 2. JVC (so so close, the wide presentation is awesome) 3. Ortofon super OM10 4. Shure M44E w/ jico 5. AT95E The Empire sounds much better now, but still one of the worst of the bunch. The Grado beats it handily. What surprises me most is how lackluster and boring the Shure 97 "audiophile" is, along with the Technics it's my least favorite. While the AT95 has to be the BEST budget cartridge on the market today. And the Jico elliptical for the M44 is a beast, what a great match. I wonder if Jico makes a stylus for the 97, that thing is just sad 😂

[@ElectoneGuy]

Yes, Jico makes two stylii for the M97xE. An SAS (which has unfortunately been discontinued) and a standard replacement. The 97 with the stock stylus needs slightly different cartridge loading capacitance to make it sound better.

[@hurkamur1]

+Audioquest56 How do you do this? Do you have switches on your pre? Do you have any SAS styli? I have yet to hear one.

[@hurkamur1]

+hurkamur1 Looks like turntableneedles has the SAS to make your M97 sound good, for a mere $300+ lol

[@hurkamur1]

+hurkamur1 Looks like turntableneedles has the SAS to make your M97 sound good, for a mere $300+ lol

[@ElectoneGuy]

My Yamaha C-4 preamp has settings for capacitance and resistive load. This test was not done through it, but my future video will.

[@dgillies5420]

Tie for last between Technics(mudnics) and Grado(muffalo) and Ortofon(screechalo). If you ever do another one of these, order them in order of increasing streetprice and list the prices, that would be great fun.

[@hurkamur1]

Old tin ear 😁 Just kidding, but really, the Ortofon is one of the best of the bunch.

[@tnk1998]

I saw a few comments down that you use the M55E with Jico stylus. I recently purchased one and it sits rather tail down on the headshell. I'm afraid it is going to scrape some of the warped records. I have added a shim of sourts, but it seems wrong. How is yours?

[@dgillies5420]

My N55E (oem) stylus is bent way-sideways but still plays, at the moment the entire turntable and stylus are broken (oh, the joy of having teenagers). I would estimate that the distance between stylus and cartridge is 5-7mm. If you indeed have a Jico copy of the M55E elliptical stylus, it is a very low tracking force cartridge (I think 0.5 grams to 1.25 grams), so you may want to check your tracking force ... I also bought PM3125E as a reasonably-priced ($30) 3x7 nude elliptical backup stylus for when the 2x7 Shure wears out ...

[@el34glo59]

Agreed

[@el34glo59]

@@hurkamur1 Grado is too much. No thanks. Yeah it's dynamic. But too much

[@TheOzthewiz]

My suggestion to all you KZbin folks that are doing these cartridge "shootouts", why not use a test record, such as the one by Ortofon. This record has 315Hz sine wave signal going up to 100mm to test tracking ability, then throw a 'scope on the output of the pre-amp. Distortion of the sine wave will be readily visible and differentiate the quality level of the various cartridges. Use the "FFT" function to see the level and frequencies where the harmonics occur. The "listening" tests that are currently being run on KZbin are too subjective plus KZbin's compression algorithms don't help. Seing the results ON A SCOPE would be definitive! Just my $0.02 worth because listening to these "tests", even through my Sony A80J, does not tell me much!

[@cdcm1959]

JVC, clear, soft; only have low output signal, also AT120E, strong and good high frecuencies, only have too output in middle frecuencies.....

[@sylvaingougeon397]

At 120 followed closely by OM 10 and very surprised of M44E...

[@dgillies5420]

M44E has been made continually for 58 years (Jico is now making it now that Shure has stopped). So it's no surprise because it's a great design ...

[@paulaj2829]

couldn't see which it was but i liked the cartridge at 7:48 to be fare .. i think it's the Shure m44e..

[@gweeeppati772]

Hi Love your shootouts As always, the degradation of the original sound via compression over the internet (e.g. youtube) makes for non-real (remote) comparisons for internet users quite compromised. Given the limitations, did you leave the volume level control knob at the same level for all cartridges? I may assume you did, which often leads to the loudest cartridge (highest output) winning the populist shootout (louder is better). If that was the case, maybe in the future, you could use a (SPL) sound pressure level meter to set the playing field level. I am suggesting to set the initial dB to be the same for the more fair comparison. G

[@ElectoneGuy]

+Gweeep Pati Honestly, that's too much work! Just trying to convey the "flavour" of each cartridge. Thanks for watching.

[@ЮраКузнец-с7й]

Audio Technica AT120E w/stock elliptical stylus !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@jcsierra68]

Audio Technica AT95E w/stock elliptical stylus, Audio Technica AT120E w/stock elliptical stylus, JVC 4MD-20X w/stock Shibata stylus, Ortofon Super OM10 w/stock elliptical stylus, Shure M44E w/Jico elliptical stylus.

[@MrsZambezi]

It would be better to use the last track on a side and make it a hot one. That's where the largest differences will be heard.

[@michaelsmullen9891]

Nice test ! I do believe the AT120E steals it followed by the Ortofon super OM10 and then the surprise of the bunch , the Shure M44E with Jico stylus coming in at number 3. The Empire I found to be very balanced and smooth and probably would fair best in a long listening session and comes in 4th only cause it lacks the pace of my top 3. Altogether a very interesting and informative test.

[@el34glo59]

Good observation. I love empires because of that. Reason. Plus if you get one with a Paralinear stylus, it's more dynamic. Which is the same as a shibata

[@ernestopenaloza9585]

Nice and usefull. Thanks.

[@tnk1998]

On your Shure M44E did you have to use shims to keep the cartridge level. I purchased one based on your great video, but my cartridge sits tail down on the headshell. Great video by the way!

[@music9556]

nice test

[@georgetsapakides5599]

I like the OM10 best but i thing that this M44E comes closer to the real production

[@corey747]

What is the model number of the Jico Elliptical paired with the Shure M44e and where did you get it? Thanks!

[@ElectoneGuy]

+corey747 www.jico-stylus.com/product_info.php?products_id=1012

[@dgillies5420]

+Audioquest56 Part of what you are hearing is the loudness of the Shure m44e, it produces the loudest signal of any cartridge here. I own the big brother cartridge, m55e with original shure elliptical 2x7 stylus. Jico's stylus is almost certainly a plain 3x7 elliptical bonded stylus, about $50-$60. Just this year they started offering a new 3x7 elliptical nude stylus for $150 (when it costs them only $10 more to build such a cartridge, the price is a serious ripoff).

[@frankgeeraerts6243]

@@dgillies5420 M55 E , a very good cartridge.

[@cubdukat]

What happened with the Prestige Black? It's punchy enough on the low end, but there's almost no mids or highs? That's certainly not how I remember Prestige Blacks behaving.

[@ElectoneGuy]

It is pretty laid back sounding.

[@PM-eg2do]

Hi, Thank you for doing this comparison! What is the audio sampling rate, bit depth and format (compressed ? lossless ?) ? And what was the recording device used for the audio ?

[@paulaj2829]

any question about the Linn K9 cartridge with the AT-vnm95en stylus.. worth having a listen..

[@retroriff]

All I can say, I have a lot of carts, (Ortofon, Akg, Grados, Dynavectors, Denons, and the Shures , and these guys ain't dumb trust me, Shure carts give the best bang for your buck....ooohhh yeah....

[@el34glo59]

Shure and Empire are legit.

[@nizodizo9549]

The previous track you where using is better for comparing phono cartridges. It had female vocals and acoustic instruments which are harder for a stylus to navigate. This track is to midrangey to make a fair comparison. I hope you get it rite for the third video.

[@el34glo59]

Oh Christ the female vocals statement lol

[@pistollero]

at95e and empire are the best.

[@el34glo59]

Thos guy knows his stuff

[@bauertime]

You can hear how flat and lifeless the Shure M97XE is compared to the rest. I don't get the love for this cartridge.

[@trystrat]

Grado as expected the worst

[@recordreserve]

AT120E sounds better for vocals than Ortofon.

[@JohnDoe-uq3mx]

What's with those single screw headshells? I have one of those.

[@ElectoneGuy]

They are a Technics headshell. Very easy to mount a cart on them. The cart mounts to a plate with two screws, then you just loosen the top screw, and adjust the plate for proper overhang and then tighten the screw.

[@JohnDoe-uq3mx]

Lemme check it out. It has no name brand on it.

[@33siae]

m44e was loud

[@AceTechHD]

M44E has a very loud output voltage at 9.5mV.

[@geraldo727]

Song please

[@ElectoneGuy]

+LetsGo Son Dire Straits "Money For Nothing"

[@horsey604]

JVC, Ortofon, Grado

[@dgillies5420]

Go see an otolaryngologist right away, you need help ...