Replacement for Shure VN35SA stylus
The VN35SA expresses the innate musicality, delicacy and genuine natural sound quality of the Shure V15 Type III cartridge. Unlike the latest boron mounted replacement, the VN35SA retains the fluidity and the alluring pitch consistently extended from the original design.
The High Fidelity of Shibata1
Most styli (or styluses) are classified as spherical or elliptical depending on the shape of the tip that comes in contact with the record groove. Spherical styli are most common - especially as original factory installed equipment. The weakness of the spherical styli is that they cannot follow the groove accurately. When the groove changes in direction it has a narrower effective width and the spherical stylus tip is forced up so that it no longer traces the grooves. To overcome this problem an elliptical stylus was developed that could trace the groove more accurately even when there were lateral variations.
But elliptical styluses have one serious drawback: the area of contact between the stylus and the groove is very much reduced. This means that for a given stylus pressure the force on the record is much greater and this accelerates record and stylus wear.
The Shibata was developed to address the drawbacks of the spherical and elliptical styli. The new stylus had to have a larger contact area with the record groove than conventional ellipticals and yet had to follow the groove more accurately. With its shape, the Shibata has 4 times greater contact than was possible before. This effectively doubles the mechanical resonance frequency which in turn increases the frequency range.
The increase in the contact area by four times means that for a given stylus pressure the force on the record is reduced by the same amount; this increases record and stylus life by four times. And because the stylus has the ideal dimensions and shape it follows the groove more accurately, decreasing waveform and phase distortion and increasing fidelity. The increase does not apply to CD-4 alone; when played with a Shibata stylus, 2-channel records have greater fidelity.
Thus was its greatness born and four decades later, we can still experience its exceptional quality through its progeny - the LP GEAR VN35SA stylus. The Shibata stylus has a signature sound - it is melodious, slightly sweet at the top bereft of edginess, full-bodied and well-balanced across its wide frequency response range.
Upgrade Options
- For alternative stylus replacements that offer state-of-the-art
and world-class excellence, refer to Related Products below.
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Footnote 1: The section above regarding the Shibata stylus was
derived from a JVC originated document entitled CD-4: An Introduction.
