Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Shure discontinues phono products

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 05-01-2018, 04:04 AM:

May 1, 2018

Dear Valued Partner,

For more than 90 years, Shure has been committed to manufacturing and delivering products of the highest quality, reliability, and value. This commitment requires consistency in materials, processes, and testing, as well the capacity to react to fluctuations in demand.

In recent years, the ability to maintain our exacting standards in the Phonograph Cartridge product category has been challenged, resulting in cost and delivery impacts that are inconsistent with the Shure brand promise.

In light of these conditions, and after thorough evaluation, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue production of Shure Phono products effective Summer 2018. MAP prices will remain in effect.

Given our decades-long history of participation in the Phono category, we recognize that this decision may come as a disappointment to our channel partners and end users.

We are grateful for the support and loyalty demonstrated for Shure Phono products through the years, and we are proud of the impact that these products have made on our customers' lives and the reputation of the Shure brand. We believe that the proud legacy of Shure Phono is best served by exiting the category rather than continuing production under increasingly challenging circumstances.

Shure will continue to bring reputable, high quality products to market, and we look forward to meeting and exceeding customer expectations on our current and future offerings. As Shure expands into new markets and product categories for audiophiles, our enduring commitment to premium performance and technological innovation will remain at our core.

Sincerely,
Abby Kaplan
Senior Director
Retail
US | CAN | AUS | NZ

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 05-01-2018, 01:37 PM:

Shame.

I didn't usually. spec their products at the radio stations I had control of, though I didn't rush to pull them out, either. Their cartridges performed well enough sonically, but I felt Stanton was generally more rugged. DJs were pretty tough on that stuff back then.

Clearly, however, there are fewer choices now.

Posted by Matthew Ortado (Member # 5620) on 05-01-2018, 01:53 PM:

This is surprising news, seeing how records are making a comeback. Many artists are putting out new albums on record these days.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 05-01-2018, 02:00 PM:

Audiophiles now wants the more expensive carts, like Audio Technica, Stanton, Ortophon RED and Blue, and and a host of others.

These claim that these brands can extract more tonal information out of the grooves for more serious listening....along with higher end tonearms, which a battle is going on on whether its a straight arm or an "S" curved arm...along with up to 32 inch arms.

Posted by Bill Brandenstein (Member # 7758) on 05-01-2018, 03:31 PM:

Never will forget college listening sessions in a professor's home with the Shure V15 Type 3. It could play anything, and sounded cleaner than anything else I'd heard to that point.

Always wanted to own such but haven't justified the expense. Guess I never will, although aftermarket needle manufacturers may pick up some of the gaps and keep legacy products like that viable. Let's hope so.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 05-01-2018, 06:29 PM:

That's a bit of a blow. Their M78/N78 coarsegroove cartridge and .0025 pitch stylus is almost perfect (and if it were elliptical rather than spherical, would be absolutely perfect) for the final generation of mass pressed 78s (late '40s to late '50s), and aftermarket 3 mil and .0035 styli for the M78 are widely available from aftermarket sources, too.

I guess smaller volume, boutique manufacturers of cartridges and styli that have sprung up with the vinyl revival can make the smaller economies of scale for what is now a niche product work, in a way that Shure has decided that it no longer can.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-01-2018, 10:41 PM:

I have no idea how many Shure cartridges I installed in Technics turntables, and a few Garrards, back in my audio sales days. I know in the last few years we were in the phono biz, Technics had introduced their own cartridge design that didn't require any alignment, and on some turntables, no balancing either, which was a major headache reducer.

Since all the Technics "mass market" turntables included the newer cartridge design, we were pretty much out of the Shure business by the early 80s, except for replacement styli of course. (Now THERE is a high-markup item for ya. The phono stylus was the printer ink of the 1980s.)

I forget what Shure model was the shizz when the changeover happened... V15 Type V maybe?

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 05-02-2018, 01:13 AM:

The best cartridge/stylus ever (in my opinion) was indeed the Shure V15 Type VxMR with the VN45MR stylus. It's what I run on my Technics SL-1210M5G turntable. [thumbsup]

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 05-02-2018, 05:54 AM:

I ran a V15 Type IV for a period of time but settled on Signet TK9LCa as my preferred cartridge. I have two replacement styli for it now. (Mitsubushi LT-30 turntable). I also have a Technics SL-1301 with a lesser cartridge for more difficult records that didn't start in my collection.

Posted by Steve Moore (Member # 4753) on 05-02-2018, 03:31 PM:

Shame indeed. I better buy a supply of them, though I imagine just one would last me a lifetime now.

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 05-02-2018, 05:10 PM:

quote: Leo Enticknap
I guess smaller volume, boutique manufacturers of cartridges and styli that have sprung up with the vinyl revival can make the smaller economies of scale for what is now a niche product work, in a way that Shure has decided that it no longer can.

The problem is, many if not most of them target the audiophile b.s. market, so you'll end up paying the audiophile b.s. tax on it, not just the increased price-tag due to the more limited production cycles.

Posted by Martin Brooks (Member # 1269) on 05-02-2018, 09:55 PM:

Back in the day I had a Share V15 Type II Supertrack, but then I switched to a Stanton 681EEE. While I had three styli, I felt they were wearing out, so a few years ago I ordered replacements from Stanton and they turned out to be terrible. Totally distorted sound and I had to return the styli. The specialty shop that sold it told me that Stanton wasn't making the same way they used to and they really weren't eliptical anymore. Last summer I bought an Ortofon Blue, which has a great sound, but is very sensitive to static.

As far as vinyl goes, there is a revival, but it's small and there's a lot of hype. Just 15.6 million LPs were sold in the U.S. last year. That was a 5.4% increase over 2016, but below 2015's 16.9 million. When you realize that there were single big hit albums that back in the day sold 10 million or more and now the entire industry is the equivalent of two of those, it's not really much. At the peak of the CD market in 2000, 942.5 million were sold.