Michael Fremer reviewed the Shure V15VxMR in July 1997 (Vol.20 No.7):
Older analog fans fondly recall the introduction of Shure's M3D back in 1959—that black blob of a device was the first stereo moving-magnet cartridge. A few years later it was followed by another black blob, the M7/N21D, which tracked at a lower downforce. Put either in a Garrard Type A turntable and you were cruising down the vinyl highway in "state-of-the-art" transportation. Anti-skating? Azimuth? VTA? Are you kidding? You couldn't even adjust overhang on that setup. But you could stack records!
In 1964 Shure changed the vinyl landscape when it introduced the first V15 model. Until then a cartridge had been, for most listeners, an add-a-penny-to-the-list-price-of-the-turntable device. At about $60, the Shure made prospective purchasers think twice about cartridges. It was pricey (in today's dollars it cost more than the new 15xMR), but with its 15° tracking angle, symmetrical bi-radial elliptical stylus, and 1gm tracking capability, it quickly became the cartridge of choice for the well-heeled audiophile.
Companies like Empire, ADC, and Pickering followed with their upscale models, but sometimes being first has its advantages; Shure's top-of-the-line models kept their status—at least in America—as the Cadillacs of cartridges for many years, with the subsequent V15 Type II (1966), Type II Improved (1970), Type III (1973), Type IV (1978), and finally the V (1982) and V-MR (1983).
By the time Shure ceased V15 production at the dawn of the digital age, pricey moving-coil cartridges were already in vogue, and Shure's reputation had slipped somewhat among audiophiles—even among Shure diehards—who felt that when the Illinois company moved production to Mexico, quality had headed south as well. Having switched to moving-coils myself by then, I can't say whether that was truth or prejudice.
Audio techniques
While my 1967 Allied catalog lists Shure, ADC, Pickering, Sonotone, GE, Empire, and even Ortofon (whose SPE/T was, at $75, the most expensive Allied carried, though you could pay it off at $5 a month), Audio-Technica is not listed. Nor is it to be found in Lafayette's Golden Jubilee 1971 catalog—though you could get a Grado FTE for $19.95, and by then Stanton had beat Shure in the price department with the 681EE at $72. Today's DJs and hip-hoppers are still scratching with a cartridge that looks identical to the 681EE. A technological extravaganza
The new V15 comes out of an era when low-mass, low–tracking-force, high-compliance cantilever/stylus systems were considered essential for high performance. Given today's medium- to high-mass arms and low-compliance, low-output cartridges, the V15 seems like a throwback to another era. In some ways it is.
Back when light tracking was a fetish, I ruined many fine records by tracking them too lightly. Though it was within the specified range of the cartridge I was then using, the arm/cartridge combination simply couldn't stay on the road; the stylus went careening through the grooves, hitting the vinyl guard rails and ripping out sections as it went.
While the Rega RB 300 arm is a medium-mass design, its effective mass is such (because of a variety of factors best discussed elsewhere) that it works well with medium- to low- and high-compliance cartridges. The Shure tracked beautifully on the Rega arm at 1gm downforce, and its vertical and horizontal low-frequency resonance points (measured using the Hi-Fi News & Record Review test record) fell in the ideal range below musical modulations and above record-warp frequencies.
Since 1978 Shure has employed a somewhat controversial front-mounted, viscous-damped "Dynamic Stabilizer" device that uses a carbon-fiber brush to contact the record. The efficacy of damping is well accepted today, though most arm manufacturers apply it at the pivot point, which is not nearly as effective as at the cantilever end. That's why automobiles put the shock absorber by the spring—or, in today's McPherson struts, inside the spring. That's where it really belongs. Only Max Townshend's modified Rega arms feature silicone damping at the headshell, via a front-mounted trough. The problem is, having a pool of silicone floating over the record surface makes many vinyl enthusiasts queasy.
Shure's carbon-fiber contact point also makes some audiophiles queasy, but not because of the potential of an oil spill. The problem with the brush is that, despite the microscopic size of the bristles (Shure claims 10,000 pack the tiny device), they "play" the record along with the stylus. Though it was way, way down in level, I could actually hear the brush, acoustically and electrically.
On most program material I couldn't hear the brush, but when I could it was obviously unacceptable. Fortunately you can click it up and out of the way, but you have to remember to readjust VTF, as the brush counteracts downward pressure by half a gram. The stabilizer offers substantial benefits that will outweigh its problems for many vinyl lovers: it keeps the cartridge from "bottoming out" on warped records, helps keep the resonance points where they belong, minimizes power-sucking subsonic frequencies from reaching the amplifier, acts as a stylus cushion if you accidentally drop the arm, and the carbon-fiber bristles sweep away dust before the stylus reaches the groove.
When you play seriously warped records and see zero subwoofer motion, you know the device works. While some Shure enthusiasts claim the V15 sounds better with the stabilizer clicked out of the system, I reviewed the cartridge with it in position, as Shure's engineers intend.
Other high-tech features of the V15VxMR include an ultra-thin (0.0005!9) beryllium Microwall/Be cantilever, patented MASAR polished stylus, and the Side Guard stylus-protection system. According to Shure, the 6.25 stiffness-to-mass ratio of the new cantilever is the highest of any cantilever ever made, and results in outstanding high-frequency tracking. The low-mass Micro-Ridge stylus shape features a very small tracing radius, which reduces distortion; and the MASAR polishing of the contact area results in an ultrasmooth contact surface.
Sound quality
That's what Shure says. What did I hear? First, I had to mount the cartridge in the Rega. I'll tell you one thing: Being able to remove the stylus assembly makes installation much easier. When I slid the cantilever assembly out from the body, I realized that Shure hasn't changed its basic cartridge construction technique since the M3D way back when. As with the M3D, the V15's stylus-assembly/cartridge-body interface is a hollow square shaft that slides into a square internal fitting. Obviously, proper alignment of the parts during manufacturing and a close-tolerance fit are critical to the cartridge's performance. Once the V15 was aligned and set to 1.5gm (the damping reduces it to 1), I began playing records. I noted that the Rega's non–VTA-adjustable arm was tracking virtually parallel to the record surface—which makes the xMR a good VTA match for the Rega.
Cold out of the box, the V15 sounded warm. Over time it got even warmer, though the bass tightened up a bit. By any definition, the new V15VxMR is a warm, sweet-sounding cartridge. Its basic nature, coupled with its superb tracking ability, yielded a completely grain- and etch-free sonic picture that was never fatiguing or hard-sounding.
But it didn't sound particularly exciting either. I kept wishing for more transient snap, more speed, more inner detail, more air. I kept wishing for that tightly focused image surrounded by an eerie envelope of air that lets me believe the event is actually occurring in front of me. I kept wishing for the performance you get from a $3500 moving-coil job, but that's simply not going to be forthcoming from a $299 cartridge. Nor did I expect it. I just wanted it.
What I expected from the Shure, I got. That is, I got remarkably clean, distortion-free tracking at 1gm with outstandingly clean portrayal of sibilants. I got a really suave top-to-bottom, octave-to-octave balance and control. The Shure did not stick out anywhere in the spectrum, and that's an accomplishment at this price point.
Conclusion
If you're looking for music with a reasonably honest portrayal of the harmonic structure of the real thing, you'll get it from the V15. It didn't skimp on the midrange or bleach the top. It didn't bloat the bass or thin it out. It gave me what's musically most important. Its biggest sins were of omission—it didn't give me all of the air and space present on live recordings, or the kind of front-to-back layering of perfectly focused images I hear from the top-shelf moving-coils, and it didn't recover the small microbursts of energy that make music sound live. Despite its low mass and high-tech features, the V15 tended toward slow and thick—it sacrificed the transient for the harmonic envelope, and trimming the capacitance didn't appreciably change things. But look—at this price point, mix'n'match is the best strategy. If your system is too "zippy" and bright, if you're using inexpensive solid-state electronics that are etched and a bit hard and forward, the Shure might be the perfect fit. If you're doing analog on a budget—say, with a Dual ;'table—the V15 might be the perfect match. It will sound honest and take great care of your records until you can bump up your front-end.Each of these moving-magnet cartridges offers a level of technological and mechanical sophistication that few, if any, similarly priced moving-coil cartridges can match. While neither could extract as much information from the grooves as the better, similarly priced moving-coil cartridges, both performed with a top-to-bottom coherence and consistency matched by only a few of the better budget moving-coils.
While my 1967 Allied catalog lists Shure, ADC, Pickering, Sonotone, GE, Empire, and even Ortofon (whose SPE/T was, at $75, the most expensive Allied carried, though you could pay it off at $5 a month), Audio-Technica is not listed. Nor is it to be found in Lafayette's Golden Jubilee 1971 catalog—though you could get a Grado FTE for $19.95, and by then Stanton had beat Shure in the price department with the 681EE at $72. Today's DJs and hip-hoppers are still scratching with a cartridge that looks identical to the 681EE. A technological extravaganza
The new V15 comes out of an era when low-mass, low–tracking-force, high-compliance cantilever/stylus systems were considered essential for high performance. Given today's medium- to high-mass arms and low-compliance, low-output cartridges, the V15 seems like a throwback to another era. In some ways it is.
That's what Shure says. What did I hear? First, I had to mount the cartridge in the Rega. I'll tell you one thing: Being able to remove the stylus assembly makes installation much easier. When I slid the cantilever assembly out from the body, I realized that Shure hasn't changed its basic cartridge construction technique since the M3D way back when. As with the M3D, the V15's stylus-assembly/cartridge-body interface is a hollow square shaft that slides into a square internal fitting. Obviously, proper alignment of the parts during manufacturing and a close-tolerance fit are critical to the cartridge's performance. Once the V15 was aligned and set to 1.5gm (the damping reduces it to 1), I began playing records. I noted that the Rega's non–VTA-adjustable arm was tracking virtually parallel to the record surface—which makes the xMR a good VTA match for the Rega.
If you're looking for music with a reasonably honest portrayal of the harmonic structure of the real thing, you'll get it from the V15. It didn't skimp on the midrange or bleach the top. It didn't bloat the bass or thin it out. It gave me what's musically most important. Its biggest sins were of omission—it didn't give me all of the air and space present on live recordings, or the kind of front-to-back layering of perfectly focused images I hear from the top-shelf moving-coils, and it didn't recover the small microbursts of energy that make music sound live. Despite its low mass and high-tech features, the V15 tended toward slow and thick—it sacrificed the transient for the harmonic envelope, and trimming the capacitance didn't appreciably change things. But look—at this price point, mix'n'match is the best strategy. If your system is too "zippy" and bright, if you're using inexpensive solid-state electronics that are etched and a bit hard and forward, the Shure might be the perfect fit. If you're doing analog on a budget—say, with a Dual ;'table—the V15 might be the perfect match. It will sound honest and take great care of your records until you can bump up your front-end.Each of these moving-magnet cartridges offers a level of technological and mechanical sophistication that few, if any, similarly priced moving-coil cartridges can match. While neither could extract as much information from the grooves as the better, similarly priced moving-coil cartridges, both performed with a top-to-bottom coherence and consistency matched by only a few of the better budget moving-coils.
