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

I've bought all my SAS styli direct from Jico, http://stylus.export-japan.com/

They ship quickly and have been great to deal with. I won't deal with LP Gear due to some prior problems I've had with them.

I use Baerwald whenever possible, Stevenson otherwise.

M97xE with the SAS

Yup, word is the SAS on the 97 is a really good setup.

I must admit to being somewhat tepid about the JICO SAS on my V15Vmr. I don't think that it is up to the sound quality of the original stylus on my other V15Vmr. That said, I found the 440 to be very bright and the Red has a bonded stylus, and that would put both of them out for me.

What concerns me is the SAS is a radical cut stylus that requires exacting VTA/SRA. I don't think that the Fisher will get you there. So my suggestion is to get the regular JICO elliptical stylus for the M97xE, or a Shure M97xE replacement, by process of elimination.

So I am going with the SAS... I'm gonna roll the dice with LPGear since JICO in japan is all backordered... Hopefully will be here in time for christmas break so that I can break in before I go back to work. I will use my handy protractor to get the baerwald alignment all dialed in. I have some old vinyl and some new. Some horrific pressings, some 180 gram, and some hot stampers. I will report back my findings over the stock stylus for all to read. I am starting to understand why people have multiple headshells and multiple tonearms.. It's like having multiple monitors on a computer... I will also transcribe some of the vinyl I had already done with the elliptical stylus to forensically analyze them. Thanks for all the insight...

Ben