Put me down as one of the admirers of this cartridge. For its street price of $275 or so, it's tough to beat, and it's one of the highest value purchases in audio. I have owned several versions of the V15 over the years, and the current edition is the most musical of the lineage and does a good to excellent job on all types of music.
I'm not surprised that many dealers don't like it -- not enough high-end panache or audiophobia attached to it (not to mention markup profit). What the V15VxMR does better than most other cartridges is track like a champ -- it will play LP's that no other cartridge I have owned can handle, such as the Telarc LP of the 1812 Overture (the digital cannon shots at the end of the LP have caused severe mistracking with every other cartridge I've owned).
The V15V does not have the last bit of resolution or detail, nor is it incredibly fast like the best moving coils. What it does do well is reproduce music in a very enjoyable fashion, at a very low tracking force, and with sufficiently high output that it will easily drive a moving magnet phono input stage (thereby keeping phono stage noise very low). In its price bracket, I'm hard pressed to think of a better all-around cartridge than the V15VxMR. The Sumiko Blue Point Special and the Grado model that sells for $300 both have much to offer, but for pure "connect it and enjoy it" ease, I'd still take the V15V as my first choice. I'd describe the V15V as the cartridge for the analog enthusiast who wants to listen to music without the audiophobia of worrying about equipment.
For the record, I have a Grado Reference cartridge in my current analog front end, and while it's a wonderful cartridge, it's certainly not 4 times better (based on price) than the V15VxMR I had previously.
OK, let the flack begin.....
I'm not surprised that many dealers don't like it -- not enough high-end panache or audiophobia attached to it (not to mention markup profit). What the V15VxMR does better than most other cartridges is track like a champ -- it will play LP's that no other cartridge I have owned can handle, such as the Telarc LP of the 1812 Overture (the digital cannon shots at the end of the LP have caused severe mistracking with every other cartridge I've owned).
The V15V does not have the last bit of resolution or detail, nor is it incredibly fast like the best moving coils. What it does do well is reproduce music in a very enjoyable fashion, at a very low tracking force, and with sufficiently high output that it will easily drive a moving magnet phono input stage (thereby keeping phono stage noise very low). In its price bracket, I'm hard pressed to think of a better all-around cartridge than the V15VxMR. The Sumiko Blue Point Special and the Grado model that sells for $300 both have much to offer, but for pure "connect it and enjoy it" ease, I'd still take the V15V as my first choice. I'd describe the V15V as the cartridge for the analog enthusiast who wants to listen to music without the audiophobia of worrying about equipment.
For the record, I have a Grado Reference cartridge in my current analog front end, and while it's a wonderful cartridge, it's certainly not 4 times better (based on price) than the V15VxMR I had previously.
OK, let the flack begin....