• Elac Miracord 40

Just got everything hooked up. New Ed Saunders stylus, M95ED cartridge, Elac Miracord 50H, etc. To my dismay, it looks like the stylus is giving so much that the cartridge body is about touching the record. The sound is fantastic. I have lowered the force to between 3/4 to 1 gms, but still have the problem.

What have I done wrong? The stylus is new, the cartridge has been in storage for years.

Not sure what you mean about 'floating'. I set the tracking force to zero and then adjust the counterweight until the arm 'floats' parallel to the platter/record. Then I apply the tracking force of a gram to the arm and set the anti-skate to about 1.5.

The stylus body sits about a little more than 1/32 above the vinyl surface. That is close! Is that a compliance problem with the stylus? This Ed Saunders stylus is a little 'soft'?What we mean by floating is with the arm not above the platter, turn your counterweight until the arm floats by itself, and seeks a level, from there, adjust your scale on that counterweight to 0, and then turn to the recommended weight suggested by the cartridge manufacturer. Otherwise, for a more precise measurement, get a VTF gauge and adjust your counterbalance to where it reads the right weight on your scale. You will also need to do an alignment, using a gauge, such as Bearwold, Stevenson, or Loftgren (bearwold being most preferable) and you should have your cartridge setup, and then adjust your anti skate to the same gram weight as your VTF.

Oh, do all the adjustments with the anti skate set to zero, and then once the VTF is adjusted, then set the anti-skate.it's not rocket science and a little research would reveal all I just wrote.That is the purpose of the balancing of your tone arm. You all would be interested to know that I got an email from Ed himself responding to my problem! Evidently technical questions get referred to Ed.Also, I think I solved my own problem. The new stylus, fully pushed into the cartridge, goes in past the end of the suspension tube that holds the cantilever.

About 1/16th inch. I pulled it out until the tube was flush with the entrance on the cartridge. The cartridge now rides a good 1/16th inch above the record. About twice the previous height, and looks satisfactory. I also have a stylus force scale coming to check the settings on the Elac.

I'm surprised. I used to buy Shure stylus replacements from him a few years back.

Then I started seeing a lot of complaints about quality of his products. I asked him about it, and he told me that he had turned the business over to the woman with whom he had partnered when he got back into it a few years earlier (after having virtually shut it down).

He also told me at that time he would no longer vouch for the quality of the products being sold under his name, as they were no longer being built to his specifications or checked for quality control. I still have the email he sent me.But, at least you've found a way to get it working acceptably. Personally, I would find using a stylus assembly that is not firmly seated in the cartridge body to be a questionable practice.but if it sounds good to you, you're good to go! Definitely an issue with the stylus as I was beginning to suspect.You should be able to push the stylus completely back to its stop on the body and have it perform correctly.Maybe perhaps the cantilever tube is too long to properly work without causing a sag in the cantilever? Hmmm, who knows but as long as it works, does not fall out, and sounds fine without groove distortion etc, you should be good to go.Next time, Google around and you may well find a better replacement from elsewhere for your cart, or just buy a fresh new one that is similar as a thought if you need to as SHURE is still in business. I'd personally go for the M97xE, and it can be had on Amazon for around $60, new, replacement stylus can be had on there for around $44 as I bought a replacement for my cart there in January.It's a thought, though I'd check to see if it's recommended for the Miracord.

I run mine on a low mass straight arm on an 80's era turntable and it works great in that situation, your mileage may vary. The M97xe is a popular budget cartridge, but if you like the sound of the older Shure carts, I suspect you might find it too rolled off in the higher frequencies.You can get a high-quality Jico elliptical for less than $30 from TurntableNeedles.com. I've found them to be a very good provider, and my experience with the fit of Jico replacements has been excellent. I don't think that table would do them justice, but they also offer hyperelliptical and line contact/SAS versions (quite a bit more expensive though). The M97xe is a popular budget cartridge, but if you like the sound of the older Shure carts, I suspect you might find it too rolled off in the higher frequencies.You can get a high-quality Jico elliptical for less than $30 from TurntableNeedles.com.

I've found them to be a very good provider, and my experience with the fit of Jico replacements has been excellent. I don't think that table would do them justice, but they also offer hyperelliptical and line contact/SAS versions (quite a bit more expensive though).I agree the M97xE cart is indeed a popular budget cart, though SHURE likes to tout $160 for it these days on their website, though on Amazon you can get it now for around $60, new. I paid $70 new for mine in 2006 from Amazon and I've been happy with it.it was the most suggested cart for my requests over on Audio Asylum's Vinyl Asylum forum at the time when I was looking to replace my previous cart, and I WAS warned about it's potential caveat, IE, it being TOO neutral, and in some cases with improper loading the highs CAN get rolled off. I certainly agree that the characteristics of the other electronics all play a role in how an individual component performs in a particular system. I'm also very glad that you like the sound of the M97xe in your systemMy only point was/is that compared to the older Shure carts (such as the M95 that the OP enjoys), the M97xe is more reserved in the higher frequencies. It was not a value judgement, nor a complaint.

Just a factual statement.For those who might like to experiment with loading variations, an easy way to do so is to build multiple sets of loading plugs. There are many 'how-to's' on the Web.here is one:http://audio-forum.gspaudio.co.uk/cartridge-loading-plugstopic1246.html. I certainly agree that the characteristics of the other electronics all play a role in how an individual component performs in a particular system. I'm also very glad that you like the sound of the M97xe in your systemMy only point was/is that compared to the older Shure carts (such as the M95 that the OP enjoys), the M97xe is more reserved in the higher frequencies. It was not a value judgement, nor a complaint.

Just a factual statement.For those who might like to experiment with loading variations, an easy way to do so is to build multiple sets of loading plugs. There are many 'how-to's' on the Web.here is one:not arguing your point as it's valid, I'm just saying that some of this rolled off highs can be equipment/loading thing to a degree. I've heard many sonic characteristics for the V15 series at the very least. You can get a Jico.3x.7 elliptical for the V15ii for around $40.but its my opinion that the M95 is a better cartridge than the first and second versions of the V15. The Jico hyperelliptical ($90) provides a significant improvement over the elliptical in the M95.

In fact, I prefer it to their line contact stylus ($150) in the M series carts.and for the price difference, feel that the hyperelliptical is a better performer than the SAS (line contact) in the V15III and IV as well.To clarify; I should have said that the hyperelliptical is a better value than the SAS. The SAS does provide noticeably better sonic performance (which is why I have one on my primary turntable!).but the hyperelliptical is still quite good. Well, thanks for the answer but I don't understand if that applies if the balance on the tonearm is correct. Everything should be neutral until the tracking force is applied? Never had this problem before, but then, have never used an aftermarket stylus either.

In my amateur eyes, the only two things that could be the culprit are the Ed Saunders replacement stylus, or the age of the M95ED cartridge. Some 40 years, but not used since the late 70's and not since then.Forgot that I intended to address this question earlier. Tonearm mass is not the same as tracking force. With the proper counterweight, a 20 pound tonearm could still track at 1.5 grams (for example). Same for a 10 gram tonearm. Tracking force is a static measurement, and doesn't address the other forces exerted once the tonearm/stylus/record are in motion.The mass of the tonearm defines its inertia - its resistance to movement. It also defines the force exerted once movement begins.

Elac Miracord 40

Think about the cantilever as a spring. As the stylus tracks the lunar landscape of the record groove, the cantilever holds it in place. However, as it moves up and down, energy is transferred to the tonearm, making it move up and down (and laterally) as well. The higher the mass, the higher this force.If the tonearm mass is high, the spring (cantilever) must be relatively stiff (lower compliance) so as not to bottom out with downward pressure and jump out of the groove with upward pressure.

My Dual 704 with a Shure V15III cartridge did the same thing with an Ed Sauinders stylus. The problem was solved when a JICO VN35HE SAS stylus was installed. With that stylus the cartridge rides about 1/8 inch off the record. The sound also improved dramatically.The Saunders sounded pretty good, but left the cartridge so low that any warp in the record caused it to hit.My JICO was ordered from the factory in Japan and took about five weeks to arrive. Apparently they have one person on staff the builds the SAS cartridges. Not to thread crap, but in keeping with some of the suggestions I found my 30 year old M91-ED Shure to be magic on most sub 500$ tables, especially with a good replacement stylus. You can find the cart used fairly cheap and a NOS version for quite a bit more, but beware as most will need a new stylus, as the cantilever is almost guaranteed to be soft by now.I found a genuine Shure that was a later/ latest last released stylus but it cost 75 bucks.

However it was good and the cart sounds phenomenal on a Technics SL-Q202, a fairly bulletproof low buck table. Jico offers new styli for the 91 as well, but the Shure original spec'd stylus looks more solid, and likely sounds better. 'High Track' appears in red letter on the original stylus, in bolder font than the replacements currently offered, and its yellow too. Some replacements are different colors or have no writing printed on them.

I shy'd away from these.It was on a Sl-Q2 too early in life and was magic. It's a good fill in on my SL-1210M5G and really sings well. Its the cheapest cart I use on it, but by no means is it a slouch either, compared to the 2 moving coils I use, it holds its own surprisingly well.That table was thrown away by 'mistake' as moms do when sons are in the service.

But that's another story for another thread.fit.