Purchased a used Shure V15 Type IV cartridge, looking for stylus


I purchased a used Shure V15 IV with a NOS stylus but I believe it is an aftermarket as it does not say Shure across the stylus, but it does have the dampening brush. I have looked at the Jico replacement stylus’s and am leaning towards the one with Boron cantilever and super elliptical stylus. I believe Jico is getting around $280.00 give or take.

LA Gear also sells a stylus for much less as well as many sellers on flea bay. I hear that the higher end Jico stylus with the ruby canteliver has a tipped up high end and Jico claims their stylus with the Boron canteliver is closest to the original with the Berellium stylus. Since I can’t listen or try before I buy, I am looking for anyone with experience on this. The cartridge should arrive on Wednesday and a new headshell and mounting hardware should be here by Saturday.

Of course I will try with the supposedly NOS stylus but most likely 99% sure I will buy a replacement just for the peace of mind. Looking for knowledge and answers from those that know.  I only paid $140 for the cartridge and owned one back in the day (1978) and always loved the sound of it.  This will be a third cartridge so it won’t be in use all the time.  Thanks.

128x128stereo5

With all respect to Elliot, who is a knowledgeable Audiogon contributor, I'm not a fan of using a brush mounted on any cartridge, for the following reasons:

1. it screws up the geometry of the cartridge and makes azimuth adjustment almost impossible. This wasn't a major factor when the V15 series was first introduced, but it is now.

2. Some turntables, mostly belt drives with "low-noise" (aka low powered) motors will not spin at the precisely correct speed with the brush attached.

3. Unless the brush is cleaned often, your you will hear more noise as dirt get accumulated into the grooves. It's a resolvable issue but it's also a PITA.

4. In dry/low humidity conditions, brushes can build up a considerable amount of static on the record surface, also contributing to noisy play.

Best to skip the brush, IMO.

br3098, On balance, I wouldn't use the brush either.  But if your motor is THAT weak that the brush slows down the platter, then we are in trouble.  Most weak motor BD TTs are designed with massive platters; the designer wants the inertia of the platter per se to be the major factor in holding constant speed.  I would have thought that properly designed BD TTs with motors that are intentionally weak would not be affected at all by the brush. Have you had the opposite experience? On all other points, I agree, except as regards the importance of azimuth in the good old days.  I guess you are suggesting that elliptical styli are less fussy about azimuth. The other factor is that most of us never thought much about azimuth in those good old days, because we couldn't adjust for it even if we had.

My Technics SL 1200G is a direct drive so there will never be a problem of the brush slowing the turntable speed.  I have decided that I will listen to the cartridge when I receive it first.  It presently has a NOS VN4G stylus which is a cheap alt.  Once I have verified the cartridge actually works, I will then purchase the Jico SAS with the Boron cantilever.  
 

I was leaning towards that stylus before I made the original post, but you guys sealed the deal for me, thanks all so very much.  

The brush would have to weigh about 10 lbs before it would affect the speed of the 1200G (Hyperbole intended).

I use a Shure V-15 III that I bought nearly 50 years ago. For the last eight years I have equipped it with JICO SAS styli (two in that time period) and have been very pleased with them. It is mounted into an SME 3009 II. The V-15 III needs more of a capacitance load than most MM carts, like 400-500pf, and that of course influences the top end considerably. I took the best estimates of arm cabling and the "Y" adapter I use to connect caps in front of the phono pre, load the "Y" with 200pf, and adjust the rest with the phono pre (Schiit Skoll). The net is approaching 500pf and the top end is detailed without being shrill or hyped. The SAS tip geometry can tend to collect crap from the disc surface easily so cleaning both regularly is a good idea.