AT440mla, ortofon 2m red, or JICO SAS tip for mx97

Ok well I received it today... So here we go... Setup was not as fiddly as anticipated. There are some things of note however. It is like others have stated... A little shaky until break in.. Or at least I assume... I have compensated with the anti skate and a little tracking force (hopefully will speed up cantilever break in) Stylus overhang is radically different though; had to scoot the cartridge way up; but no big deal I got new headshell wires anyway. Even without being broke in; OMG!!! It is actually quieter than the stock stylus. I will posst more after break in.. but will have no trouble putting 50 hours on this quickly

Thanks
Ben

About 8 hours in and i will tell you... I can't stop listening. The cantilever looks like a fine thread compared to the original. And the sound... omg the sound... FULL bodied bass, crystalline highs, warmth exploding. It is super quiet too. I thought the shure stylus was for sure more forgiving... WRONG!!! I may never stop listening... I gave up watching TV tonight for it.

That's great to hear. It's nice when things work out like that, isn't it? Happy listening.
-Bob

I am pretty sure my stylus is almost ran in... Been about 40 hours... I have officially ditched my audiosource eq 8 out of my signal path. I thought before that I needed it... And to a point I did... This stylus has raised the output of the cartridge to almost DOUBLE. No joke. The spectrum analyzer is now at the same level as my CD's whereas before it was about half. The pure audio button on my onkyo is engaged and no tone controls are needed... My recommendation, buy the stylus. No matter what table you own. Calibrate it correctly and your shure mx97e will reward you as never before. A side by side comparison of vinyl transcriptions tells ALL. I compared them with a buddy who has a project iii and a properly setup bluepoint no. 2 and i will say i actually prefer the sound of 3 out 4 identical pressings on my setup. He could not believe it. We compared transcriptions before and I was disappointed in my prior setup. His were so much more musical and open. Now he is actually entertaining the idea of the shure with the JICO. Happy Holiday and joyous listening and thanks for all the sound advice.

Ben

I'm so happy for you, Ben. (... told ya you would love it!)

Have a great holiday spinning records!