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Shure M55 cartridge

pure sound said:
I must try a Jico stylus for my M3D. I acquired what was supposedly a Shure NOS stylus from Needledoctor and the cartridge, while certainly big, ballsy & fun is not exactly comfortable playing massed strings etc. I feared for my records.

It sounds comfortable & enjoyable playing the late 50's jazz of its era (Capitol, Verve)
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It's a big conical tip tracking at a 2.5g minimum, it should play pretty much what a 103 or conical tipped SPU will play, i.e. it sure ain't for opera, but neither is an M55!

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The Jico tip seemed pretty good, mine seemed happy enough at 2.5g on the L70 above, though I've never tried it in any other deck or arm. My aim was to hear how a decent stock late 50s-early 60s deck could sound as it's a period many of my favourite recordings were made. The answer was very good indeed. I've not used my NOS Shure stylus at all, so I've no idea how the Jico stacks up to it.

Tony.
 
Where & why did it change from a 55 to a M3D? These are two very different carts with different stylus profiles. 55 E is elliptical / M3D is conical

See the Cartridge data base on Vinyl Engine download the pdfs on Shure Carts & compare
 
I don't think anyone is confusing them. BlueEyes already has an M3D and in a heavy arm like the 3012, he may aswell fit that albeit perhaps with a new stylus. The M3D would probably be more at home in that arm than the M55.
 
Have Fun said:
Where & why did it change from a 55 to a M3D? These are two very different carts with different stylus profiles. 55 E is elliptical / M3D is conical
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It's largely academic as Shure no longer make anything but conical DJ tips for the M44/55 body these days. Given the choice between a M44 and a M3d I'd take the latter every time.

Tony.
 
I'm trying to clarify how you know its an M3D???

The guy asked about a 55 - the cart body is different on a M3D (as is the stylus)

Academic or not the guy will need to get a suitable stylus that fits the body he has - Jico is the likely candidate & no reason to get anything else other than the budget Jico for the 55 44 or M3D
 
Have Fun said:
I'm trying to clarify how you know its an M3D???
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Greg (Blueeyes) called round to my home a few months ago with some kit he wanted me to assess / appraise, and amongst that kit was a Shure M3d mounted in a less than perfect condition very elderly bakelite SME headshell. Hence I know he has one! The M3d itself looked fine and had it's stylus guard fitted, but even so I'd want to fit a new stylus before attempting to play vinyl with it, I therefore recommended the Jico stylus as Shure no longer make a replacement themselves. I know Jico to be of good quality as I have used them myself.

As far as I'm aware Greg does not have a M55, but is thinking of buying an old one. This to me makes little point given both cartridges would need a third-party stylus unless he was happy to use an M44 DJ stylus in the 55, and the M3d is widely considered to be the better sounding of the two anyway. For the Jico stylus cost of $19 plus postage it makes sense to try it IMO.

Tony.
 
OK clarified as to what he has currently, but he has been advised to get a 55 for the SME3012 - Greg is concerned about the compatability of carts for that arm - compliance wise.

I'd be more concerned with getting a better cart altogether eg

The earlier V series was designed specifically for the SME but I don't know about its compatability with the heavier 12" arm
 
Have Fun said:
..but he has been advised to get a 55 for the SME3012...
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This to my mind is not necessarily the best advice. There is nothing even remotely special about the M55E and I'd not personally want to waste an arm as good as a 3012 on one. The carts I'd be interested in trying in that arm would, in ascending order of price, be the M3d, DL-103, SPUGT. By pure luck and fluke Greg actually has one on that list!

It is worth noting that the 3012 is a lot more massy than the 3009, especially the S2 Improved that most people tend to bring to mind when thinking of vintage SME arms. As such it is more suited to a medium to low compliance cartridge. I'd certainly not want anything like a V15III in a 3012, the speaker cones would be flapping about all over the place!

If, for some reason, Greg didn't want to try his M3d I'd recommend a humble Audio Technica AT95E over a M55 with third party stylus. It's pretty low compliance, can track at up to 2.5g and will work quite happily in a 3012. It is probably the cheapest brand new option to quickly get up and running.

Tony.
 
The bakelite headshell should add some much needed mass for the M3-D to work best.

Tony L here gave me a spare stylus for the lighter tracking M21 (so it becomes an M3D/N21) and at 2.5 grammes it sounds just as Tony says, big-n-ballsy but with marginal high frequency tracking, which may be better in an SME anyway. Huge fun and light years ahead of the M55E IMO.. Obviously the SME Series 2 unimproved can take better, but move in small but carefully guided steps and you won't go wrong :D
 
Even though it's not specified on the Jico site with any real detail I suspect the Jico N3 stylus emulates the N21 rather than the N3, it's got a fairly thin cantilever (thinner than the one in their pic, see mine on the previous page) and seems fine at 2-2.5g to my ears. The L70 arm is hard to adjust with any accuracy as it's spring loaded so variable dependant upon height, but I'm pretty sure I was somewhere in that range!

Tony.
 
Dave & Tony and other kind contributors,

I am copying all this onto a word doc so I have a record as to what to do!
 
Final top tip - the Bakelite SME headshell is a collectible in Japan. I had one years ago and it raised £35 on Fleabay. I remember posting it out to Tokyo. Better ones were even more, so if you don't plan to use it then don't just dump it.
 
stevec67 said:
Final top tip - the Bakelite SME headshell is a collectible in Japan.
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Sadly someone has hit Greg's with a soldering iron so all appeal to the collector market has gone. It's structurally sound and the M3d living within looks fine.

Tony.
 
I realize that this is an old thread, though perhaps Tony & others may be able to opine on my situation.

My turntable is a late-60s ELAC Miracord that my dad bought new, and it was restored for me by an old turntable wiz here in the US @8 years back. I don't remember what cart had been on there originally when I sent it to him for the servicing, but his advice was that an M55E/N55E setup would be superbly suited for this particular turntable. On his recommendation, I had him equip the TT with a NOS M55E cartridge and N55E stylus.

My question: what would you suggest as an upgrade over the M55E/N55E? I don't consider myself an audiophile, yet somehow my records only seem to sound so-so through my old tube hi-fi setup. My understanding of the M3D--which seems to be preferred here in this thread over the M55--is that it was Shure's first stereo cartridge in the late-50s, and while it was celebrated at the time, it is somewhat of a limited, dated cartridge that's now experiencing a renaissance of sorts for its kitsch factor amongst those who want to hear mono & early stereo LPs just as they would have sounded 50+ years ago. I do not intend this at all to be a knock against the resurgent popularity of the M3D, but what I'm getting at is that perhaps I was misled into believing the M55 to be something that it is not if in fact the antiquated M3D is a step up from it sonically.

I am curious to know your thoughts and suggestions.
 
The M55e was a fairly lowly cartridge in the vast Shure range in the 1970s. I had one for years on one of my first turntables.
There was then the m75 and m95, with the range topper being the v15.
From memory the m55 retailed at circa £20 in the mid 70s.

The nearest modern Shure is the m97xe, which you can pick up at circa £70 brand new on line.
I bought one a couple of years ago, as liked the original Shure MM sound.
The m97xe pleasantly surprised me and I'd fully recommend it.
 
+1 on the M97xe, a mate got one and it's very good for about £60. I very much prefer it to an AT95e, though they may be cheaper at more like £30-35.
 
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rhgbristol said:
The M55e was a fairly lowly cartridge in the vast Shure range in the 1970s. I had one for years on one of my first turntables.
There was then the m75 and m95, with the range topper being the v15.
From memory the m55 retailed at circa £20 in the mid 70s.

The nearest modern Shure is the m97xe, which you can pick up at circa £70 brand new on line.
I bought one a couple of years ago, as liked the original Shure MM sound.
The m97xe pleasantly surprised me and I'd fully recommend it.
Click to expand...

Certainly was a lowly cartridge - I bought a new Pioneer PL12D for £45 and an M55E for about £4 in 1974...it was the cheapest cartridge that provided a reasonable sound...but fairly dull nevertheless. Soon upgraded to a Shure M75EJ then M75ED. The V15 only worked well in very low mass arm, eg SME.
 
narabdela said:
List price for an M55E in 1976 in the USA was $29.95 which equates to $124.61 today.
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sorry, memory failing...I had the basic m55 with the conical stylus which was quite a bit cheaper than the m55E which came out a bit later with the more expensive elliptical stylus.
 
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