Recently acquired one of these cartridges and will be doing a review in a few days after I get everything set up.



As some people here may know, I'm not a DJ. However, this cartridge has received rave reviews from the audiophile/hi-fi crowd as a "back up cart", or something you use for "well loved" vinyl or records that just aren't pressed that well. While it is marketed by Shure as a DJ cartridge, it tracks at a much lower vertical tracking force than many DJ cartridges (1.5-3g). I'm looking forward to trying out this cart and seeing how it stacks up against a more traditional home listening/hi-fi cartridge.

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I had a Stanton turntable that I used for a while strictly for sampling . I didn't care for the cart that was on there about of the box ( Stanton 500.v3 ) . Not that it was a terrible cartridge , just not what I was looking for . Since I am a Shure fan , I decided to give the M35x a shot . I was very happy with it . The sound was great , and it held up well to back spinning and cueing . I sold that turntable to my sister-in-law's boyfriend when his console stereo died . He is very heavy handed and it causes me to cringe a little when he puts the needle on the record , but that needle is still holding up great and sounds awesome . I hope you get the same results

After going through some drama with a defective aftermarket headshell, I'm finally in business with this cartridge.

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Currently tracking at 2.25g with the antiskate set to "2".

So far I've tested this cart out with the following albums:

Dr. Dre: Chronic 2001 Instrumentals
Horace Silver: Finger Poppin' (70s reissue)
Wilson Pickett: Can't Knock My Love
Isolee: Well Spent Youth

Some more "rock" oriented records will be up next, as well as at least one or two classical LPs.

Impressions so far are positive, though I did notice some IGD on the Pickett LP. Side 1 of that LP is cut fairly aggressively, with a narrow strip of deadwax.

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Taking a short break from testing this cart, but recently tested these LPs with it:

AC/DC: Highway to Hell
Bebop Deluxe: Sunburst Finish
Paintbox: Singing Shouting Crying
Beatles: Sgt. Pepper's (Mono AAA reissue)

I'll just say the cart "rocks" with rock styles of music.

One thing I've noticed is that the EQ of the cartridge seems to emphasize a lot of the frequencies in the upper and lower range. Not to say that there is no midrange, but some aspects of upper midrange detail to get glossed over. No big deal. My opinions on the cartridge are still largely positive.

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