N-97xE SAS/B

I have always been a fan of Shure phono cartridges since the 1970s. My cartridge of choice for many years was the M91E. When Shure discontinued that cartridge I experimented with many other brands. Eventually I landed back with Shure and the M97XE. I found the cartridge to be well rounded with great tracking ability. When Shure stopped making this cartridge I purchased a replacement stylus for one of the two cartridges I had on hand. It was OK but nothing special. I wanted something better. I purchased a $460 cartridge however could not get it to fit my turntable properly. So instead I searched for a new stylus.

After reading many many reviews I eventually landed on the JICO N-97xE SAS/B. When the stylus arrived I immediately started warming up the tubes and installed the stylus, verifying alignment and tracking force. I then slipped Patricia Barber’s Companion album on to the turntable.

The album opens with the deep rich sounds of an acoustic bass which sounded like it was in the same room with me. This was then followed up rather quickly by Patricia’s vocals. What I immediately noticed was how the bass and the vocals were, the best I can describe it is, separated, or might I say live. It was as if each was being played on its own separate track through its own system. I have since played many different genres from classical to big band to soft and hard rock. The brilliant highs are a bit more crisp than the original stylus from Shure, I reminisce to the M91E, and the lows carry a deep sultry bass. At the same time, and I am going to say it again, it is the separation of the sounds of each instrument and voice that strikes me the most. Nothing gets lost in the background of the overall orchestration. I am hearing things that I never heard in the past. None of the highs get buried by the lows. The mids are crystal clear and unique from the overall sound. Bottom line: WOW!

Wow! Never expected it to be this good! Like a vale is lifted, so much clearer. I was not using the cart anymore, because it sounded too muffled in my opinion, but with this stylus it's like owning a new cart.

Very good needle. Sounds clean. Rediscovered my vinyl.

Diesen Nadeleinschub im Juli 2014 erhalten. Läuft auf einem Rega 3 mit RB300 Tonarm. Den Höhenausgleich zum Original Rega Tonabnehmer habe ich durch eine Reduktion der Mattenstärke erreicht.
Nach einer längeren Zeit, um die Euphorie hintanzuhalten, schreibe ich dieses Review. Was alle anderen Vorrezensenten schreiben, ist absolut unglaublich, aber genau so richtig. Es ist sogar die Ausgangsspannung höher, d.h. er ist deutlich lauter als mit der Originalnadel.
Nachdem ich 40 Jahre lang alle möglichen Tonabnehmer getestet habe quer durch alle Preisklassen, erlaube ich mir folgendes Zusammenfassung: Dieser Shure "Billig"Tonabnehmer in Kombination mit dieser Nadel gehört zu den 20 besten MM Tonabnehmern, die man zur Zeit kaufen kann, unabhängig vom Preis. Er spielt sogar in der Liga der MCs bis etwa 400.- € mit.
Danke an JICO. Eine sehr gute technische Lösung!

I realize that spending more on a stylus than originally spent on a cartridge might make you question if the sonic upgrade will be worth it, but the SAS stylus for the Shure M97xE is definitely worth it in my opinion. This stylus really will make your cartridge perform at it's best. While I enjoyed the original elliptical stylus that came with the cartridge, there seemed to be something missing. The highs seemed to be somewhat veiled. I didn't even realize what I was missing until I put the SAS stylus on. Wow.. what a difference! The sound is so clear and detailed now. I'm picking up things in recordings that I've never noticed before. I had read a lot of reviews before purchasing this stylus, but I really wasn't prepared for the difference it makes. If you use the Shure M97xE and have considered the SAS stylus I would definitely recommend it. To me it's well worth the price for such a great upgrade. I'm very happy with it. Thank you Jico.

I ordered this stylus and received it in May 2013. The stylus arrived safely and sounds superb, with better channel separation and significantly improved clarity. The soundstage is vastly improved, with instrumental detail and precision a joy to hear. This applies to all music styles, from progressive rock, such as Emerson Lake and Palmer, through to classical music such as Handel and Bach. Please accept my sincere congratulations and thanks for giving me improved listening pleasure. I hope you will be kind enough to ensure that this feedback is is shared throughout JICO, as I shall certainly recommend your company to other vinyl listeners.

I purchased my N 97 XE SAS about 6 months ago. I've mounted it in my Rega P3 with an RB 300 tone arm and have it in my "second" system upstairs where I mainly listen with headphones which as you know are very revealing. Along with my "Lounge" phono pre amp this relatively inexpensive cartridge sounds amazing. Never used the OEM stylus much as it tended to sound a bit muddy or slightly hazy but with the SAS this cartridge will track virtually ANY record and at the recommended tracking force! This means your precious vinyl will last much longer and sound much better. I'm so glad JICO is producing these styli for moving magnet cartridges. This will allow people who are just getting into vinyl to acquire an excellent vinyl front end for a very reasonable amount of cash! If you.ve been thinking about an SAS stylus - do yourself a favour - get one, you won't regret it, some of the best money you'll ever spend!

Wow. Like rediscovering your entire record collection. Brings out detail in a precise and very musical manner.

Also greatly reduces surface noise (even on marked records) and attracts far less dust than stock n97xe.

This is a truly incredible product.
Thank you.

Received my SAS Stylus for my Shure M97XE Cartridge. The original stylus was still in great shape but I just wanted to hear for myself if this is a true upgrade. I was intrigued by the Shure micro-ridge stylus that was on the previous top of the line Shure cartridge and the Jico SAS looked somewhat similar in shape but even more refined. So I took the plunge. Wow, I am so glad that I did. First listen was to a 1964 record by Los Indio Tabajaras. Great guitar music from South America. I was blown away buy the detail that was in the recording. Detial that I had never heard before. Next I listend to Jimi's Axis Bold As Love. Same thing... Super!! On to Dave Brubeck... Outstanding improvement over the original Shure stylus. I could have spent a lot more money on a High End cartridge and doubt that I would have been as impressed as I am with the Jico! 2 thumbs up from here, I just hope it lasts me a long time and keeps performing as it does today. Nothing disappointing about this experience other than it took about a month to get. Thanks to Jico for making such a quality product!!

Prepare to be blown away!!! The Shure M97Xe is an OK cart given the less than $100.00 price range. As soon as I replaced the stock stylus with the Jico SAS I noticed the difference instantly. It is a whole new cart delivering music from my vinyl like never before. The tracking is much much better too, especially on the inner bands. It even plays some records I considered to be bad stamps quite nicely. My wife who is not an audiophile noticed the music sounded clearer. Again, the difference over the stock stylus is HUGE! Every Shure M97Xe should be given this stylus. It's definitely worth the $$ and the wait.
Thank you Jico!

I can say that your product excelled in the test. In comparison with the previous needle I detected a significant leap for the better and that’s why I am very pleased and pleasantly surprised.

I ordered a JICO SAS for my Shure M97XE and am very impressed with quality of the product. The SAS is an unbelievable audio experience. Even when a genuine Shure stylus is still available, I highly recommend the JICO SAS replacement. My collection of hundreds of LPs has never sounded so good.

Well, I've just spent an evening playing everything from Steely Dan to John Coltrane, Fat Freddy's Drop, Alabama 3, Patti Smith with my new SAS stylus. What a revelation! The M97XE has been transformed from a good cartridge to an absolutely superb one. It's brighter, punchier, has better channel separation and the sound stage is much better defined, especially when playing Bluenote recordings. I cannot stress how worthwhile this upgrade is.

Absolutely terrific upgrade for the Shure M97xe cartridge! The stock Shure cartridge is good, but is clearly rolled off on the high frequencies. The JICO SAS corrects that problem and transforms the M97 into a truly magical, high end cartridge comparable to other cartridges costing over $500. Highly recommended!! Buy It!!

I agree with other reviewers that this stylus is a significant upgrade for the Shure M97xE cartridge. I was able to demonstrate the improvement using the HiFi News test LP for set up on my Rega P3-24 turntable. The LP includes a sequence of 4 progressively harder tracking tests that produce distortion if tracking is not ideal. After some adjustment of bias and tracking force, the SAS stylus performed perfectly up to test #3, whereas the original Shure stylus failed after test #2. (#4 is a "torture track" that is probably impossible for any cartridge/stylus combination in this price range). Of course, the SAS sounds great on music too! Highly recommended.

J'ai été impressionné de la précision et de la pureté rendu par ce stylet, il a changé radicalement la qualité de la cellule. Très satisfait de cet achat.

I would argue this is a must upgrade for this particular cartridge. While the standard stylus sounds perfectly fine, the depth of clarity of this SAS is brilliant.
The genius is that it achieves this clarity without the jarring high end of say an AT440Mla, while still retaining a warm middle range.
Great service as well. Super fast post.

This fits my V15-RS (version of V15 made for Radio Shack) just fine and is an excellent alternative to the original stylus which is no longer available. The original V15-RS stylus has a beryllium cantilever and Hyperelliptical tip. The SAS tip retrieves more detail and sounds more analytical. The JICO also seems to have slightly higher output. The only possible drawback is a slightly etched sound compared to the smoother sound of the original, but I found that to be an issue on only a few recordings.

Wow WoW WOW WOW! This stylus is amazing. My records are crisp, bright and clear. There is no inner groove distortion, tracking is amazingly accurate. When i upgraded to a M97xE I thought i had it all, but this makes the cartridge sound 1000% better. Worth every penny - highly recommended!

The SAS stylus for the Shure M97 turns a well designed, well regarded, budget cartridge into something quite different.

Thanks to the N97 SAS, the general "darkness" of the M97, is now punctuated by delicate but precise treble details emerging from the rich background to form a well rounded frequency spectrum. The character of the Shure is enhanced, not altered.

The stylus and assembly itself is, in engineering terms, impressive. The boron rod cantilever so thin and non reflective it's often difficult to see, and the tiny, tiny SAS profiled tip equally so.

Drop the stylus into the groove, and you are rewarded with a very quiet backdrop, and a rich but detailed - without becoming analytical - presentation. The SAS stylus - if care is taken during alignment - reduces inner groove distortions to inaudibility. On records I'm less familiar with, I've been surprised when the side has finished, as there has been absolutely no degradation in sound in the inner grooves.

This stylus is like getting a newer, cleaner and better record collection, and I cannot think of any praise higher than that.

A definite, no hesitation recommendation.

The only thing to beware of when comparing this to the Shure stylus is that, if using the brush down and engaged, the Jico is slightly less forceful than the Shure one. Only allow 0.25g for the Jico brush damping compared to the 0.5g you have to allow for the Shure brush. This is not a negative point, but it is something you should consider, to make sure you get the best out of the SAS.

Purchased the SAS as a replacement for my Shure M97xE. Was pleasantly surprised by the improvement.
- Sibilance is gone.
- Surface noise is greatly reduced which is really a big plus.
- Image and soundstage sharpened up.

Highly recommended. Plus these guys here are a pleasure to deal with.

The Shure M97XE is significantly upgraded by the SAS stylus. The standard 97XE is a pleasant sounding cartridge but not too exciting. The SAS really opens up the sound, with much better separation of instruments, and with greater depth and clarity. My order from JICO very professionally handled. Thank you.

This SAS converts the M97xE into a top performer regardless of price or operating principle ( MM, MC, MI, electret...). Tracks and sounds distinctly better than the original, with higher output and better signal-to-noise character. Top treble is smooth and clear, midrange is free from distortion, bass is authoritative, staging is ample and focused. It is confident and radiant among all other comers. Tracking ability is among the best at the maximum 1.5 gram setting, regardless of using the damper brush or not. The damper brush imparts stability to the tonearm on warps. A definite improvement over the original, without a doubt.

Could this be quite the perfect stylus upgrade for the lowly M92E? I tried this stylus in the Shure M92E that I have and it absolutely blows the stock Shure .4x.7 mil N92E elliptical stylus out of the water. I have not found this stylus to be as fussy with tracking as some on here have stated. I got the N97xE SAS stylus yesterday, did some final adjustments on my linear tracking turntable, then I was in business.

Talk about a marvel! It is the rave around my house. We are vinyl lovers and we can attest that you won't go wrong purchasing this stylus. The only thing I had to adjust on my linear tracking turntable was the tracking weight and the vertical tracking angle/stylus rake angle.

The sound is so exquisite it is not any further describable by me. That should say a lot.

This stylus is the best thing I have ever done sonically for my ears. I have friends with blue point no. 2 cartridges, shure v15 carts with original styli, and several with even higher end moving coils. I will venture to say that with this combo; you can play with ANY cartridge in the sub 500.00 range. You can even play with some beyond this price point.
The boron cantilever is TINY. You MUST set this up correctly with a good protractor available at vinylengine.com. I have found this stylus not to be nearly as picky about VTA as some have stated. Be forewarned; it will not be as great as it will after 50 hours of run in at first listen. Another thing of note is that it DOUBLED the output of my cartridge according to both my spectrum analyzer and my transcriptions. This is not a bad thing for a moving magnet though. I have listened to vinyl at least 6 hours everyday since I installed this piece of heaven and have forfeited TV. My biggest warning is be prepared to be consumed after you install it.... :)

WOW! This stylus makes subtle changes to the detail of the M97XE sound but like they say it's the details that make the difference. It does not re-voice the cartridge which maintains its familiar sound but adds extrodinary detail to the top end without sounding bright. Its quite an amazing thing to make more treble without creating an in your face overly hot presentation, just more detail to pick out in the soundscape. So far I sense no change in the depth or width of the sound stage just more.....detail. And then there's the base. WOW! I think I am going to have to turn down my subwoofer! Again the base is more detailed, more information and deeper base notes than I was getting with the stock stylus. Not boomy or mushy or thumpy...just more, enough more that a slight reduction on the sub is needed. I was considering purchasing another cartridge perhaps an upgrade I thought, peraps something expensive and exotic, perhaps not!!! Adding this stylus to the M97 is increadable and I strongly reccomend it to any and all who own the mighty little shure. Thanks Jico!
Steve
Ontario, Canada