Has anyone tried the AT vm95 sh cartridge? I am thinking of getting one for the Rega P3.
Hi @bruss,
I have been using that cartridge for the last two years on my LP12 and very pleased with it. I bought it as part of a complete turntable package so didnāt compare it to others in the same price bracket.
It was recommended to me by my dealer as a good budget MM cartridge as most of my budget was spent on upstream turntable components.
I will probably upgrade it when it wears out for something like Vm760slc or DV 10x5, but not because I donāt like it, more because like most of us, I am always looking for ways to improve SQ.
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Interesting he described it as a budget cart. I would have said the sh was top end for an mm?
I have a low budget mc, hana eh on my lp12 but I didnāt want to spend that much on the P3. I also have an sl on my P8 and prefer the shibata āairynessā and separation over the elliptical equivalent and wondered if the at sh would be similar.
Agreed it is top of the VM95 range, to put it into context my total spend when I purchased the LP12 was about Ā£5k, so budget compared to the rest of my turntable.
I donāt think I will ever spend big money on cartridges, I just canāt justify it.
The stylus on the DV 10x5 is the same shape so I am drawn my towards that one when the time comes for replacement.
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For Audio Technica, it may be their very top end MM, but in terms of MM carts in general, itās still firmly in the lower 1/3 of the cost range. The lowest 1/10th if you include really high end MM carts, but weāll pretend they donāt exist for this discussion.
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The AT 95 range represents excellent VFM however you look at it. Iāve tried a few of them now and have nothing but praise for them. I have yet to try the SH which you are thinking about as Iāve sort of got stuck on the ML which has redefined my opinion about MMs and it was only Ā£115 brand new when Hifi Madness on eBay had a deal on.
So where am I going with this, well for a while now Iāve been toying with the idea of trying a RigB modified version so on Thursday last week I finally bit the bullet and ordered one without a stylus (as I have the ML already). It was a simple matter of sending an email and making a bank transfer and it arrived yesterday morning (very quick I thought). Oh my gosh, the improvement is huge! Imaging is sharper, soundstage has stepped out and up, bass is fuller and most of all, the top end seems to have more finesse. I paid Ā£83 inc postage for the RigB, so a total spend of Ā£198 (including the original purchase of the cart) and I canāt believe how good it is. Definitely worth considering, if not straight away (you can buy them with the stylus of your choice fitted already for additional Ā£) but certainly as a future upgrade.
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I ran mine on a Planar a couple of years back, a bit dry flat but not as thin as ML could be sometimes.
Tried the 95C, E and ML too.
SH was a good alternative but any of these variants are excellent for their modest price.
Sumiko Oyster series, Rainier for example is another fine alternative in this price range.
The new Rega Nd range might be a contender, at higher price though, have yet to try them.
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Iāve got the Rainier on one deck, and the Moonstone on another. The Moonstone is superb if you want to spend that on a MM. I think it is similar in cost to the AT 95 SH though.
However, I had a revelation recently regarding the Rainier. Itās a great cart and can service even a higher end deck quite well. Iāve had it for a few years. But recently, I bought a Sumiko Perl as an upgrade for my sisterās deck. Before sending it to her, I mounted it on a headshell and swapped it over in place of my Rainier. It was much better than the Rainier. More dynamic. More alive. Despite costing half as much. When the stylus goes on my Rainier, Iām not getting a new one, Iām getting a Perl. It was soo good for the money. Donāt let the middle of last century look of the Perl deceive you.
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Definately, those Pearls are really good too, not sure its much better than Rainier, but different, tbh I hardly compare things any longer.
Not even for AT is it the top of their MM range.
I run one in my second system with a Technics 1200 ML7 and itās pretty decent. That said, I would stretch to the VM700 series with a P3 if you can afford it. To me those are much more āsophisticatedā while still having the great AT tracking.
I had the 95sh on my planar 3. Changed for the Exact- which I preferred and so have kept.
Think the new ND5 is the replacement for the Exact - so would recommend comparing the nd5 with the 95.
And of course, there is the nd7 !
Not a fan of the āShibata soundā but itās a fair cartridge provided you set your expectations accordingly. Iād stretch to a VM540ML with Rega/RigB body for your P3.
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Thanks, that looks a good cart for the money but if I were stretching that far Iād stretch a bit further and go for the Hana elliptical. (EL/EH).
The intention was to ācheaplyā improve the sound on the P3 over a standard 95e cart.
I have now ordered the 95sh at 145 euro (125 uk pounds), due to arrive Fri so Iāll report back.
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UPDATE.
VM95 SH arrived today and I am suitably impressed with the uplift.
Tested with Joni and Lady of The Canyon. Immediately the solid sound from the simpler vm95E has been replaced with a wide soundstage and a detailed treble. That and a tighter bass brings the whole thing more towards the streamed equivalent. There is a channel balance issue, the rh cannel is slightly down compared to the left and notices because of the balance found on the streamed version. Iām not sure whether thatās because of the cart or the album, so Iāll test sometime over the weekend with another TT/Phono stage combination. TBF I might not have noticed without the direct comparison to the stream.
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Edit:
Fascinating stuff ( to me). My copy of Ladies has a left channel bias. Joni is not centred. Playing on any of my TTās shows this. The digital stream has Joni pretty much perfectly centred. Tested with other albums and it is just Joni. Always check with more than one album. 
Both CD and hires stream are centred so it is just the album. I have the single sleeve version and am left wondering if the gatefold sleeve version is better. Also whether there is a later remix on vinyl.
Edit 2. Apparently there is a 2021 remaster on vinyl which I have now ordered. Next week will find out if the ch balance is more even.
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