SME 3009 cartridge advice
- Thread starter kwmason
- Start date
Junaman
pfm Member
I have a SME 3009 Series II Improved on an Ariston RD11 and went through a similar journey to you a few years ago. The turntable came without a cartridge and I stuck on the first spare cartridge I had lying around, which was a Nagaoka MP 11 Boron. I had no idea about compliance at this stage or might have thought twice about it, but amazingly it worked fine. The modern equivalent is a Nagaoka MP 200, so that is a potential candidate.
I then tried the vintage route, picking up a Shure V15 Type III for £95 on EBay, which seems to be the classic combination with the arm. It didn’t sound as good as the Nagaoka, but one caveat is that I didn’t recognise the stylus on the V15 and suspect it was a cheap clone. Other people seem to get good results using Jico V15 replacement styli, so that is another potential route for you.
I currently use an Audio Technica AT-OC9XML, an MC cartridge, with excellent results. I wasn’t sure if it would work and must admit, I was sweating when I installed it, but I have had no issues and the sound is amazing.
I then tried the vintage route, picking up a Shure V15 Type III for £95 on EBay, which seems to be the classic combination with the arm. It didn’t sound as good as the Nagaoka, but one caveat is that I didn’t recognise the stylus on the V15 and suspect it was a cheap clone. Other people seem to get good results using Jico V15 replacement styli, so that is another potential route for you.
I currently use an Audio Technica AT-OC9XML, an MC cartridge, with excellent results. I wasn’t sure if it would work and must admit, I was sweating when I installed it, but I have had no issues and the sound is amazing.
Craig B
Re:trophile
Another reason why the Shure may not have performed at its best is that these need be loaded with 400 to 500pF total in order to get the highs up relative to the mids and lows.
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Junaman
pfm Member
That’s interesting. I think I was using a basic phono stage at the time which didn’t allow for different capacitance. Might give it another go as I can adjust with my current stage.
Tony L
Administrator
FWIW with a low-capacitance modern solid state phono stage I’d really not go down the vintage Shure rabbit-hole. Leave them for those with valve phono stages that just don’t work well at all with modern MM carts and have few other options. Dealing with vintage carts where no OEM styluses are available adds a whole other level of complexity for no real gain.