Shure M97xE High-Performance Magnetic Phono Cartridge
Dec 24, 2009 in
Electronics
- High-performance phono cartridge with finely polished elliptical diamond tip
- Accurately reproduces difficult musical passages, particularly in high-frequency range
- Viscous-damped dynamic stabilizer maintains uniform distance between cartridge and record
- Side-Guard system prevents stylus damage if cartridge accidentally slides across LP
- Die-cast-aluminum mounting block; includes mounting hardware and leaning brush
Product Description
Standard mount / Elliptical stylus / Low mass / Tracking force: 0.75 to 1.5 grams / 20Hz – 22kHz frequency response… More >>
Shure M97xE High-Performance Magnetic Phono Cartridge
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5 comments
Chris Nelson on December 24, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Arrived with the needle broken off. Can’t prove it so I threw it away. Don’t recommend it.
T.G. on December 24, 2009 at 10:11 pm
I had the (mis)fortune of living with an M97xE mounted on my Thorens TP16 tonearm for almost a year. This is without a doubt the most boring, way-overly-polite, sleep-inducing cartridge I’ve ever listened to. It performs very well with chamber music, acoustic folk, easy listening, waltzes, and any music intended to be slow and polite (it does do pacing/rhythm/tempo well, but politely). Pair it with a rock LP and you get a total mess… it still plays hard rock as if it were chamber music!
The cartridge is a decent tracker, but decidedly middle-of-the-road in this department. Like many cartridges with elliptical styli, it doesn’t do so well toward the inner grooves of an LP. Surface noise is also about average. Because of the shape of the cartridge (almost no flat/square edges — see picture at top of page), I found it extremely difficult to mount correctly on the tonearm. Why Shure designs a cartridge with this ridiculous shape, I have no clue.
Overall, this cartridge is workable if you have no (and I repeat, NO) rock and roll records. If you do, I’d strongly suggest you look elsewhere — consider the Audio-Technica 440ML or one of the Grados. Actually, unless you’re into a very restrained and polite sound (not to be confused with neutrality), I suggest you look elsewhere anyway. This puppy was fine for awhile, but eventually I found myself losing interest in vinyl and turning to my CD player… not a good thing.
D. L. Green on December 24, 2009 at 11:47 pm
I’m not an audiophile but I think this cartridge is not as good as expected. It is adequate for the price.
Sandra Bernuy on December 25, 2009 at 12:04 am
I want to know if this phono cartridge is compatible with sansui turntable FR-D40, because many years ago I bought a phono cartridge shure 96-XE and it was great. I don’t know it is the same or compatible model.
Thanks for the answer.
jwwoods on December 25, 2009 at 1:21 am
I compare this cartridge to a V-15 type 4. At first I thought there was an audible difference. But then I edited together segments from one song played on a Technics SL-1200 MK2 turntable alternating which cartridge was used. Then I had trouble telling them apart by sound alone.