Pickering XV-15
Yesterday my new cartridge, the Pickering XV-15 arrived. I had some luck to fetch one at an auction on ebay. Setting up the XV-15 is a bit of a hassle because of its unusual shape. Using the Technics alignment tool helps but should be handled with care if you mount the headshell with the cartridge on it – the needle tip nearly touches the alignment tool. Of course the brush doesn’t make aligning easier but all these minor distractions won’t put us off getting our cartridge to run, won’t they?
Now comes the best part – listening. Everything I read about the Pickering and its full bodied sound is true. Compared to my Denon DL-110 there’s more bass and a more accentuated midrange. There is a Chet Baker record I think is quite problematic because the recording is somehow strange or perhaps just bad. I always had the feeling it sounds a bit wrong especially with my other turntables. The Technics improved things a bit but now with the Pickering the record sounds as it should.
I think I’m going to have a lot of fun with the Pickering.
Yo!
I have two pickering xv15/150dj and one xv15/625E mounted on my sl1200 mk2! I use xv15/150dj for dj-ing an mixing, ob the huge bass punch and very high output power (8mV), very loud and uses 4g tracking force, harder cantilever for profesional dj aplications!!
The xv15/625E ahs an elypticaly shaped diamond and uses very low tracking force from 0,75-1.5gram. I use this cartridge for hi-fi applications only like audiofile listening and serious sound analysing. Huge frequence responce from 10-25kHz! Pickering for those who love the true sound! Respect for buying this cartridge!
At the moment I’ve got the 150D stylus mounted that came with the cartridge. I’ll switch to the 625E soon. Classical music, especially orchestras sound great with the Pickering.