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I was all set to give up on moving magnets until the new Shure VI5-VMR (MR stands for Micro-Ridge stylus) arrived. In a word, it's terrific. I was slightly disappointed with the original V15-V: I just didn't think it was a significant improvement over the Type IV. What I missed was fine detail—especially in the high frequencies and during heavily modulated passages. The original V was not quite up to the sound of certain moving coils. Which is not to say the original V was a bad buy: moving coils cost twice the price and you need a stepup. I could recommend the original V without hesitation…
Anthony H. Cordesman wrote about the Shure V15 VMR January 1985 (Vol.7 No.8):
This cartridge ($275) seems to divide high-end reviewers more than any other, and largely along class lines. If you are a card-carrying highender, it is definitely declasse. If you bemoan the fact that high end audio now consumes more of the GNP than nuclear weapons, and are frightened of Carl Sagan's warning that cumulative emissions of upper-octave music can cause an "audio winter," then fans of expensive moving coils are effete snobs.
My own general impression—which is formed from a position of…
Sam Tellig returned to the V15 V-MR in November 1989 (Vol.12 No.11):
Larry Archibald once told me that I managed to find myself on the horns of every hi-dilemma there is: CD or LP?
I flip over the convenience of CD and the fact I don't have to flip over the disc. But I find, still, that LPs, at their best, sound superior. The problem, of course, is that most LPs and CDs, for that matter, do not represent the particular medium at its best. Better a well-recorded CD than a mediocre LP.
Every time I make an improvement in my CD playback system—the Musical Fidelity Digilog,…
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…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Moving-magnet cartridge with (V15VxMR) Microwall/Be hollow, beryllium cantilever and Micro-Ridge MASAR polished stylus tip (0.015" by 0.003"), Dynamic Stabilizer/Destaticizer, Side Guard Stylus Protection System. Source resistance (typical): 1000 ohms. Source inductance (typical): 425mH at 1kHz. Recommended stylus downforce: 1.0gm (1.5gm with Stabilizer). Channel separation: 25dB or better at 1kHz; 18dB or better at 10kHz. Frequency range: 10Hz–25kHz. Output: 3mV RMS (5cm/s peak velocity, 1kHz). Recommended load: 47k ohms in parallel with 250pF.
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Classé Audio's DR-3 once again brings to the fore the issues of class-A vs class-AB, weighty vs small and efficient, and brute-force expensive vs clever and inexpensive.
A well-worn, if unproven, audiophile rule of thumb says that a small, quick amplifier will sound better than a very powerful one (footnote 1). Among low-powered amps, those that operate in "pure" class-A are thought to be sonically superior. Pure class-A means the amplifier must run a constant high bias (more than one ampere), so the output devices never turn off (footnote 2). This high bias current means the amplifier…
Physically, the DR-3 follows Rolls-Royce in many ways: weight, mass, and solidity of product come first. A ¼" thick polished faceplate, massive extruded heatsinks, and a central transformer box (containing two potted transformers) are bolted to a thick, welded aluminum chassis. The transformers are mounted via rubber bushings to reduce hum and vibration transmission. The internal printed circuit boards (PCBs) employ thick copper traces sealed in glass epoxy to get rid of the lead that, claims Reich, contaminates copper laminate in other PCBs.
The amplifier is bridgeable into mono, for…
Sidebar 1: System
David Reich loaned two DR-3s to the New York-based Audiophile Society for demonstration when he came to visit us, and these were briefly available for review. My reference Snell Type A/III loudspeakers were configured in a biamplified mode, so each stereo DR-3 was set up to drive one speaker. I found that my recently updated Levinson ML-7 and older ML-6A preamps developed a very low-level buzz when connected to DR-3s (footnote 1), so I used Luxman C-03 and Tandberg 3008A preamplifiers for most of my critical listening.
Shure V-15MR and Accuphase AC-2 cartridges…
Sidebar 2: Specifications
Description: Solid-state, class-A stereo amplifier. Rated Power: 25Wpc into 8 ohms. Power bandwidth, 1W output: 0.3Hz–80kHz, +0, –3dB. Dynamic Headroom: 7dB. Polarity: non-inverting.
Dimensions: 17" W by 10.5" H by 14" D. Weight: 70lb.
Price: $2895 (1985); no longer available (2020). Optional silicon-steel Magnetic Flux Enhancer MFE-1, $279 (heavier), or MFE-0.5, $219 (lighter) (1985).
Manufacturer: Classé Audio, Pointe Claire, Quebec, Canada H9R 4X5 (1985). Classé Audio LLC, a division of Sound United, 380, rue McArthur Saint-Laurent, Quebec H4T 1X8…
One of the joys of reviewing audio reproduction equipment is discovering a little-known product that provides an extraordinary level of performance and musical satisfaction at an affordable price. These components, sometimes made in a garage, reflect the designer's single-minded zeal for musical accuracy, not the sometime corporate mentality of meeting a price point or catering to the latest fad.
Unfortunately, this enthusiasm is tempered by the realization that being a brilliant designer and a shrewd businessman are often mutually exclusive talents. As a result, these components are…