Needles & Grooves

BEEAAAARE THE HORRORS OF THE SHIBATAAAAAS

I have the AT150Sa, which is the previous version of the VMN750SH and I love it with my set-up.

I love my 2M Black but I also fucking despise it. Because Shibata's are a bitch.

Is it because they're a pain to properly configure? I was hoping that by getting the AT Shibata stylus that fits in the VNM95 cartridge it would minimize hassle.

The alignment can be a pain but it's also that they are very picky with pressings. Not very forgiving. Good pressings sound INCREDIBLE, average to bad pressings make you want to indescriminantly light things on fire.

@Mather’s set-up is fancier than mine, but dirty records, certain types of scratches, swooshes and non-fill can drive you batty. It’s like all tou hear are the pops and clicks sometimes. So you end up seeking good copies and become much less tolerant of defects.

Yeah it basically forces you to only buy the cleanest pressings. The reward is great but the battle to get clean pressings can be interminable.

Bummer. I think I'm at a point where I just want to be able to enjoy the music more casually & my setup was never super audiophile to begin with...I was intrigued by the Shibata as reviews described it as being warmer than the ML & I'm a sucker for that kind of cozy sound. But if it's more trouble than it's worth I might just stick with the ML or even "downgrade" to an elliptical.

I've heard that Nagaokas are a really good middle point between detail and warmth and they're in general very forgiving? Just a thought?

Not sure it’s trouble really. Just know that certain defects are revealed but your previous stylus probably did to some extent as well. But the sound out of my AT shibata is sublime. I can’t go back to anything else I previously tried. This pairing with my Technics 1200 just works.

I love Nagaokas too. It’s what I had before this. Really nice vinyl sound but less stereo separation and detailing at the high end than the 150Sa. I only had the 110 though. My buddy has the one above that and loves it.

Yeah I mean look, I've had the Black for like... 5 years, and I still have it because it sounds INCREDIBLE... when the pressing is good. But I basically started with it so I bought vinyl with that in mind.

One more caveat to keep in mind is that we're comparing apples and oranges to some extent. I read somewhere that the AT shibata is a little less clinical than the 2M black. Also my cart is the equivalent of the 750SH. The 95SH is supposed to have a bit less high end detailing, which may also mean it's less revealing than mine, so it may very well be less prone to the issues we were talking about. Maybe?

IT'S ALL A RICH TAPESTRY