P-Mount experts..what do I have here???

I recently picked up a Denon table with a P-Mount cartridge (hey, $40...figured why not?!). It was advertised with 'Shure Needle, hardly used' which I thought was cool as I was prepared to get a table and buy a new Shure to install anyway. I just assumed it also had a Shure cartridge...I actually didn't think about it.

So I get it, and it does have a Shure needle, and it does look hardly used. However, the cartridge is Realistic, and it has RXP3 on the side. So what the heck? It LOOKS exactly like the Shure I was eyeing at http://www.lpgear.com/Merchant2/merc...ct_Code=SHEC05 which is why I assumed it was a Shure cartridge also.

So, is this Realistic a pile of crap with a Shure needle stuck on it? It sounds okay, but I have no problem replacing it if I can do better with an Ortofon 310 or the above mentioned Shure.

Did Shure make these for Radio Shack or something? See attached pic!

A lot (all?) of the Realistic phono cartridges were made by Shure, just as a lot of their headphones were made by Koss.

Laz

So is it crap (as I would expect from a Radio Shack cartridge) or is it a real Shure?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by N. Abstentia

So is it crap (as I would expect from a Radio Shack cartridge) or is it a real Shure?

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If someone gave you a Ferrari with a Yugo nameplate, would that make it junk?

Are you aware that Elac/Miracord made turntables for Radio Shack? Likewise, so did Micro Seiki.

If Ferarri made the car to Yugo's 'exacting' standards, then yes, I would call it junk. But if Yugo simply bought Ferarri's finished cars that sell for $80,000 and stuck their name on them and sold them for $9,000 then I would not call it junk. I would simply plunk down my $9000 and cruise the highway :)

So what did Radio Shack do with these carts? Buy a Shure with their name on it, or buy some 'stripped down, no frills, only the basics needed, use the cheapest parts possible' carts from Shure?

In the grand scheme, where does this cartridge rank against a new $50 Ortofon, or a $70 Shure?

Yes, it's a proper Shure with a Realistic badge on and, yes, you'd be better off with a $50 Ortofon IMHO.

Adam.

K, cool..that Ortofon 310 looks mighty sweet :)

original equipment manufacturer. shure does it, as do many others in many businesses. ive never been a fan of shures low level products, and even the vaunted v15III. todays shure products are better than in the 60s and 70s. <O:p</O:p

i have a v15Vxmr and love its sound BUT find myself listening to mc carts more often than not. i have several mounted and ready to swap on my mmt arm.

the orto is probably a better sounding cart, and if shure makes a pmount of the m97xe, that would be a great choice as well.

<O:p</O:pon another note, that tt could stand some basic CLEANING! a little windex on a soft cloth would be a good thing. too bad you didnt do that before posting the pic on the net. i have even seen some pics like that of tables that were for sale!

<O:p</O:pIF you could find a good one for cheeeeep, the original blue point was a pmount on a poorly made styrene plastic adaptor. it would be a simple matter to remove it from the adaptor and into the pmount arm.

That was taken post-cleaning! It's amazing how macro mode on my digital camera picks up dust! You can't see any of those specks with the naked eye. I also had another picture where you could see the record, and it was coated with crap! And I clean the records regularly and brush them off EVERY time I play them. I have one dusty house :)