Customer Reviews

Shure M78S Wide Groove Monophonic Cartridge

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I wired this cartridge according to the enclosed instructions and as a result no sound came out of the cartridge. Upon visiting the Shure webpage, I diiscovered that the wrong wiring diagram was given for this product. It's a price hard to beat, but be aware that the enclosed wiring instructionns are wrong.

Due that I read the reviews on this cartridge prior to making my purchase, I was prepared for the way it is wired for mono though it is a stereo unit. I wasn't concerned about this because being my deck is a stereo one I would have had to tie the signals together externally to make it mono anyways, so this made that an easier process.

However, when I received this cartridge the first thing I felt less than thrilled about is its cheap packaging. The next thing was that I referenced the connection process to the instruction sheet included in the package which had me going for quite a while. Basically, what they show in the instruction sheet isn't how the cartridge terminals are laid out on the cartridge so my first attempt had the positive leads each tied to one anothers ground via the jumpers they installed.

After several more attempts of getting it connected correctly, I ended up looking at one of my older Shure cartridges I have so I could verify the pin-out on the cartridge itself. The new one is unreadable due to poor manufacturing so it was good I had another one to look at for this.

Once I got it connected properly, it played fine and I don't have any complaints on that but this should have been a simple install if not for the bad illustration included with it.

Things sure are made very cheaply now days.

I bought this cartridge, the Shure M78S with intentions of buying another headshell. Using a Stanton H4-S Replacement headshell for a quick swap to play old 78s, on a new audio-technica AT-PL120 (Stanton H4-S Replacement Headshell is great for the money). Instruction that did come with cartridge are NOT correct as other viewers have stated. Even going to the web site did not solve my hum problem at first. I did fix the problem using only one jumper for the two "ground wires" LG & RG(comes with two jumpers connecting R to L & LG to RG "green-blue and red-white"). Using a small knife or whatever slip off R-L jumper that is around the two pins (top two pins). No hum NOW! and enjoying some great old 78s. Hope this is helpful to someone.

A friend recently gave up his fathers old 78s which had gems from Caruso to Spike Jones. It was quite a find but who has equipment to play this stuff any more?...and who wants to get up every 4 minutes to turn it over? Well call me a masochist but I decided to give the old treasures a spin. I bought an old Thorens turntable on eBay with a great SME tone arm. It plays all speeds including 16 rpm...that was used sometimes by braodcasters... The next thing I did was search for a cartridge.

I was surprised to see a good number available and still being made today. Some were quite expensive but I reasoned how much better could they be to justify the price since old 78s are rarely or never! noise free. Shure has always made cartridges of high quality in a good price range. So I chose the M78S.

It is very compliant and seems to glide through the grooves with ease and stability. It works very well with my SME 3009 SII tonearm. The results were well worth the modest cost for the cartridge. I would highly reccomend this cartridge to anyone who wants to give those oldies a spin. You will hear them better than ever!

I'm no audiophile, but it "did good" on getting my 1941 family home made 78 rpm phonographs into my computer.

This cartridge seems to work well on old 78 records. I had forgotten how fast 78's spin! You will need an additional headshell because it does not come with one. It is a bit difficult to connect the signal wires because the jumpers making the cartridge monophonic block part of the length of the cartridge pins.

Having bought the Audio Technics AT-Pl120 turntable that has the 78 rpm speed, I needed a cartridge to be able to play them. (SIDE NOTE: the instructions for the TT DO NOT mention that you need two cartridges-1 for the 33s and 45s, and 1 for 78s, so please don't ruin your needle by playing 78s!)

The M78S is well made, as you'd expect anything from Shure. It tracks well, and aside from some very scratched records, didn't skip at all. I bought a separate tonearm for the M78S, to make the switch from LPs to 78s faster. (I got it off eBay for about $15.)

All in all, I'd recommend the M78S to anyone. Now get out there and play those records!

After reading all the reports on this cartridge I decided to try it anyway. I should have paid more attention to the guys that talked about a hum or BUZZ is more like it. I have tried every combination I could
think of, some quieted it but none got rid of it. I took off the jumpers and wired the cartridge for stereo and that made the most difference but it was still there. Finally I removed the USB cable and hooked
up the RCA cables and NO HUM. I am using a AT-LP120 USB table and just for kicks I put the AT cartridge on and hooked up the USB cable and there was no HUM. I have an old Shure M 104E and that
sounded good with no hum but the styles is not made for 78's. I believe the stylus from the M104E just might work on the M78S, I will try it with and with out the jumpers for the mono setup. If the styles
does not work it is not a big deal as I will use the RCA cables. But it is the principal of the thing it should work OK with the USB cable. One of the reasons I am giving this cartridge two stars is because it does
not work the way it is said to and the other is that I e-mailed Shure and explained what I did and the problems I am having and if they can give any help and they never gave me even a courtesy of a response.

I've been stuck with a shelf load of old 78s from various sources and had been without a means to play them since my old BSR turntable died. Then along comes Amazon to the rescue by packaging a fine shure cartidge and monogroove stylus with a great Audiotechnica turntable at an excellent price. The sound quality of the cartidge and stylus is very good considering what it has to work with. Minimal hissing. Two comments: The wiring diagram with the catridge is inaccurate. You need to remove the jumper wires connecting the output pins in order to read the pin assignments directly from the cartidge. Diagram is not correct. Also, suggest Amazon package a second head shell with the cartidge since the microgroove cartidge on the Audiotechnica turntable is not a Shure. This allows faster changes when playing 78s.

Well, problem is it's not a truly mono cartdrige.

It is a stereo one bridged for mono, so, what's going on Shure?

I wanted to buy this one because it states that is a mono one; I already have an M44 bridged and I tough that this one had only one coil, but...it's almost the same with the wires for the bridge, I'm very confused