Shelter cartridges...Any thoughts?


I seem to have a passion for the underground, un-reviewed kind of audio most times and these cartridges seem like the real deal. But, rather than blow the dough on something that is not going to deliver the performance, I thought that I would see if some Audiogon folks would chime in. The Lyra Helikon was my other choice...but I don't know anything about the 90x...the 500mk2 and 900 have reviews by one or two guys...HELP!
babyjdrums
The table it would be going into is a VPI hw19mk4(all tnt mods) with a ET 2.5 arm...if that makes any difference. I think that the mass ratio for the arm/cartridge will work...and it sounds like this thing is worth giving a try. I was very impressed with the Helikon's sound on many tables at Brooks Berdan's shop in the LA area...but alot of people are saying that this is a largely underated cartridge company. Thanks for your time...and if any of you are in the LA area, I'd love to hear the cartridge in a setup.

Thanks for your time...J
This is my setup Teres 255/ET2/901 and this sounds great, you will need to let the Shelter 901 break-in for about 50-70 hours before it really starts to sing. The 901 is a good match for the ET2 or ET2.5 just make sure you have the right armtube.

Steve.
Twl and the rest here have been singing the praises about the Shelter cartridges for a long time now. Check the archives, you will see we recommend the Shelter's to almost everyone. These cartridges are at the top of the class in price to performance.

The Shelter 501 and the Crown Jewel Special Edition cartridges are one in the same product. The Crown Jewel, reviewed in Stereophile (v.20 no. 4) where it was given a “Class A” rating, had a $2650 price tag. The Shelter 501 is available in the U.S. for about $800.

My previous cartridge to the Shelter 501 was a Van den Hull Frog, I like my shelter 501 MKII better.

Babyjdrums,I think this is what you wanted to hear, so what are you waiting for?