NADMAD Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 Hi guys, I'm having my MM cartridge re-tipped and have the the option of going nude elliptical or for Shibata $170 more. The cartridge (Roksan Corus Blue from the 90s) had a conical stylus, so it will be an upgrade either way. Given that I only have a few records and have a relatively modest turntable, should I just go elliptical, or will Shibata really be worth the additional investment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussievintage Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 19 minutes ago, NADMAD said: Hi guys, I'm having my MM cartridge re-tipped and have the the option of going nude elliptical or for Shibata $170 more. The cartridge (Roksan Corus Blue from the 90s) had a conical stylus, so it will be an upgrade either way. Given that I only have a few records and have a relatively modest turntable, should I just go elliptical, or will Shibata really be worth the additional investment? Exotic stylus shapes are always worth it, if you want to reduce tracking distortion, even on more modest turntables. I prefer micro-ridge to Shibata. Shibata was one of the first and has been improved upon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NADMAD Posted January 22, 2020 Author Share Posted January 22, 2020 3 hours ago, aussievintage said: Exotic stylus shapes are always worth it, if you want to reduce tracking distortion, even on more modest turntables. I prefer micro-ridge to Shibata. Shibata was one of the first and has been improved upon. Thanks. Just took the plunge so hopefully won’t regret it! Worst case scenario I’ll sell the whole thing and will buy something else if I don’t like it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batty Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 I think you will like it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hydrology Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 The only issue I see is the Rega Planar 1 and 2 have no anti-skate adjustment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muon N' Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 16 minutes ago, Hydrology said: The only issue I see is the Rega Planar 1 and 2 have no anti-skate adjustment. If you level the table just right in the right way you can add a slight compensation for those forces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NADMAD Posted January 22, 2020 Author Share Posted January 22, 2020 3 minutes ago, Muon N' said: If you level the table just right in the right way you can add a slight compensation for those forces. Will the lack of antiskate be more of an issue with the Shibata tip Vs the elliptical one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muon N' Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 1 minute ago, NADMAD said: Will the lack of antiskate be more of an issue with the Shibata tip Vs the elliptical one? I have no idea, I'm also not familiar with Rega tables, I was just responding to the possible issue of no anti skate function. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NADMAD Posted January 22, 2020 Author Share Posted January 22, 2020 24 minutes ago, Hydrology said: The only issue I see is the Rega Planar 1 and 2 have no anti-skate adjustment. Will the lack of antiskate be more of an issuewith the Shibata tip Vs the elliptical one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussievintage Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 1 hour ago, NADMAD said: Will the lack of antiskate be more of an issuewith the Shibata tip Vs the elliptical one? Not really. Alignment is more critical though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerly Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 I hope the OP doesn't have an original Rega 2, if he does then I would suggest you remove the ball bearing from the primitive bearing assembly and roll it across a piece of glass - I can guarantee it will resemble very closely a rat arsed drunk. There are many grades of ball bearings and those used by Rega are nowhere near grade 1. Getting a grade 1 or 2 will give a dramatically better sound. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkeyboi Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 The Shibata profile was originally developed to play the CD-4 records (a.k.a Quadradisc etc) which has signals as high as 45kHz. It is an excellent profile to track high frequencies with minimal distortion and groove wear. IMHO it would be a significantly worthwhile improvement over your current conical stylus. Cheers, Alan R. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mloutfie Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 I'm actually thinking on similar change from nude elliptical to bonded vivid line. Would bonded shibata or vivid line be better than a nude elliptical. On the cartridge I'm looking for the price is exactly the same but made by different manufacturers the nude elliptical is by audio technica and the vivid line by lpgear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussievintage Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 20 minutes ago, mloutfie said: I'm actually thinking on similar change from nude elliptical to bonded vivid line. Would bonded shibata or vivid line be better than a nude elliptical. On the cartridge I'm looking for the price is exactly the same but made by different manufacturers the nude elliptical is by audio technica and the vivid line by lpgear I have had good sonic results with the Vivid line styluses on an AT95 and Stanton 681eee carts. I have also had one failure - the bonded tip separated. I have had this happen only twice in about 50 years, so not too bad. Never bother to try a nude elliptical - I went from bonded elliptical to line contact in my upgrades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krebetman Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 My understanding (and experience) is that the more exotic stylus cuts are also more dependant on having the right SRA (stylus rake angle). If you can't alter that, then you may not get the most out of the cart. Is this something you can adjust with your tonearm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyW Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 Just keep in mind that with the more advanced diamond profiles alignment is more critical. The higher up you go in terms of profiles the more critical to getting the best from it. A mis-aligned stylus is also more likely to cause damage than a conical. Take you time setting it up and fine tune over the next week or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussievintage Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 2 hours ago, krebetman said: My understanding (and experience) is that the more exotic stylus cuts are also more dependant on having the right SRA (stylus rake angle). If you can't alter that, then you may not get the most out of the cart. Is this something you can adjust with your tonearm? Mat thickness and headshell shims can be used if the arm itself can't be adjusted/shimmed. I know higher end Regas can have shims put under the tonearm if required. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussievintage Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 1 hour ago, MattyW said: Just keep in mind that with the more advanced diamond profiles alignment is more critical. The higher up you go in terms of profiles the more critical to getting the best from it. That's true, but don't let it scare you. We normally obsess over alignment, and that's a good thing, but a normal setup with a 2 point protractor will be well accurate enough, and it isn't that hard to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Jones Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 4 hours ago, krebetman said: My understanding (and experience) is that the more exotic stylus cuts are also more dependant on having the right SRA (stylus rake angle). If you can't alter that, then you may not get the most out of the cart. Is this something you can adjust with your tonearm? Not necessarily, it depends on a number of factors. I have a Technics EPC205 with a Jico SAS/B it's a miroline stylus with very small side radius and long contact. It was mated to a Technics EPA100 tonearm that has on the fly VTA. Moving the arm from full low to full high (about 7mm) made NO audible difference. My system is detailed enough to hear someone pick a guitar from a stand at the beginning of Fleedwood Mac's The Chain. Now the physics behind this - The EPA100 has its COM (centre of mass) on the pivot line, this means VTF will not change with arm angle (SRA). Unipivots can have the COM well below the pivot point this will increase VTF as the rear of the arm is lowered or the cartridge raises and decrease VTF as the rear of the arm is raised. VTF can have a significant influence on sound as the magnets align with the coils etc et etc. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krebetman Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 3 hours ago, Warren Jones said: Not necessarily, it depends on a number of factors. I have a Technics EPC205 with a Jico SAS/B it's a miroline stylus with very small side radius and long contact. It was mated to a Technics EPA100 tonearm that has on the fly VTA. Moving the arm from full low to full high (about 7mm) made NO audible difference. On a 9" arm, that makes less than 2 degrees difference in the SRA - you probably were lucky enough to be close to the right SRA in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muon N' Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 I would stretch things and go nude over bonded if possible, I dislike bonded styli. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussievintage Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 9 hours ago, Muon N' said: I would stretch things and go nude over bonded if possible, I dislike bonded styli. This is why, for the money, I like the AT VM95ML cartridge and nude microline stylus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mloutfie Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 9 hours ago, Muon N' said: I would stretch things and go nude over bonded if possible, I dislike bonded styli. can you elaborate why? I actually never use bonded stylus. this is the first time I look at more economical stylus for a long time. reason being I'm going to be using it in my office setup rather than my primary setup. the current office setup use nude elliptical. where my main setup is using nude line contact. so when the price of bonded vivid line and nude elliptical is the same I wonder what's the trade off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussievintage Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 11 minutes ago, mloutfie said: so when the price of bonded vivid line and nude elliptical is the same I wonder what's the trade off Well, I consider them not as robust, seeing I have had a couple fail at that bond between the diamond and the mount. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muon N' Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 20 minutes ago, aussievintage said: Well, I consider them not as robust, seeing I have had a couple fail at that bond between the diamond and the mount. For this reason mostly 32 minutes ago, mloutfie said: can you elaborate why? I actually never use bonded stylus. this is the first time I look at more economical stylus for a long time. reason being I'm going to be using it in my office setup rather than my primary setup. the current office setup use nude elliptical. where my main setup is using nude line contact. so when the price of bonded vivid line and nude elliptical is the same I wonder what's the trade off and I think they would sound better if we could do a direct AB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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