High output MC cartridges

@thehorn,

I bought a Soundsmith Zephyr MK/III Hand Made High Output Cartridge from Greg Leurquin of Hi-Fi Heaven and tried it out for about 3 weeks with 2 different turntables and I found it couldn’t even come close to the quality of sound, imaging, dynamics and soundstage that my Shure V15VxMR cartridge with a Japanese JICO VN5xMR HIGH GRADE neo SAS stylus made.

I ended up selling the Soundsmith Zephyr MK/III Hand Made High Output Cartridge at cost.

Here is an informative link with detailed reviews about all Shure V15 phono cartridges: https://hometheaterreview.com/shure-v15-phono-cartridge-reviewed/

Now on the Shure V15VxMR cartridge, I stumbled across a Canadian seller who wanted $202 Canadian for the cartridge which came to $152 US and took a chance hoping nothing was wrong with it and have been jamming ever since. So I really got lucky on that cartridge.

I could have bought an original Shure VN5xMR stylus but the JICO reviews were so good I opted for the JICO VN5xMR HIGH GRADE neo SAS stylus - brand new.

And everytime I did an upgrade, (tube preamp with telefunken tubes/all Duelund interconnects) the sound coming from my turntable got better and better. The Shure V15VxMR cartridge took whatever I through at it with breathtaking ease.

Hey [chakster],
Be reseaching the Grace F-9 & the Sony XL-50.
How's the Sony XL-50 stack up against the F-9 Grace?

@tyray .... thanks for the post.
Looking into the options you've suggested.

And I did buy the Soundsmith Zephyr MK/III used for a heck of a mark down, I just couldn't find the receipt. 

Most Shure V15 cartridges do go for about $500 and up used and the Shure VN5xMR stylus for the Shure V15VxMR cartridge, go for about $300 and up used. The JICO VN5xMR HIGH GRADE neo SAS stylus, $250 brand new with killer specs.

@thehorn

 How's the Sony XL-50 stack up against the F-9 Grace?

Sony is rare and not so popular, you will not find much info about this model, but Sony is better cartridge, it has Boron Pipe cantilever while Grace F9 has aluminum (or Ruby if you're lucky). I have both cartridges, my Sony XL-50 is mounted on dedicated Sony Soundtech headshell made for this cartridge, here is the only picture of my Sony. 

It's not easy to find a perfect sample of Sony XL-50, the performance primary depends on condition. Since my Grace F9 and Sony XL-50 are both perfect i can confirm than Sony XL-50 is much better cartridge.