dolepatrol Posted June 26, 2019 Share Posted June 26, 2019 Hey, I recently got into vinyl and turntablism and managed to grab some shure m44-7 carts. I love these carts including the sound quality, low record wear, and how they track tremendously while scratching and backcueing even at 3.0G tracking weight. My first needle is on its way out and I heard Jicos are reliable replacements for the original needles and with the steadily increasing price of the OEM needles I decided to give the Jicos a shot. I ended up purchasing a Jico 3.0G model marketed as a replacement for the n44-7. I calibrated the weight and TT height just as I would the OEM n44-7 but it skips all over the place on the simplest scratches and backcueing. I tried breaking it in for a couple days (left it sitting on the record and played some records) and tracking at 3.5G but I'm seeing little improvement. Did I just get a dud here, what has been your guys' experiences with the Jico's? Are the 3.5G models better? Am I better off just buying OEM needles? Picture of the Jico: https://i.imgur.com/6UTTmYc.jpg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d00ban Posted June 26, 2019 Share Posted June 26, 2019 Hey, I recently got into vinyl and turntablism and managed to grab some shure m44-7 carts. I love these carts including the sound quality, low record wear, and how they track tremendously while scratching and backcueing even at 3.0G tracking weight. My first needle is on its way out and I heard Jicos are reliable replacements for the original needles and with the steadily increasing price of the OEM needles I decided to give the Jicos a shot. I ended up purchasing a Jico 3.0G model marketed as a replacement for the n44-7. I calibrated the weight and TT height just as I would the OEM n44-7 but it skips all over the place on the simplest scratches and backcueing. I tried breaking it in for a couple days (left it sitting on the record and played some records) and tracking at 3.5G but I'm seeing little improvement. Did I just get a dud here, what has been your guys' experiences with the Jico's? Are the 3.5G models better? Am I better off just buying OEM needles? Picture of the Jico: https://i.imgur.com/6UTTmYc.jpg I heard good things and bought some. Not actually tried them out yet though so can't help you too much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dolepatrol Posted June 26, 2019 Author Share Posted June 26, 2019 (edited) Although, I guess the one with the term 'DJ' is probably what you're after anyway. Is that the 3.5G what you're talking about?Yes exactly. I think it either has the term Dj or IMPROVED in the title and it is rated for 3.5G tracking weight , as opposed to the one I purchased which is marketed w/ 3.0G Tracking weight.Typically the 3.5G jico models have a guard whereas the 3.0G dont. I haven't found any info on performance difference between the two or if there's any difference at all, but I'm really hoping they're on improvement on the 3.0G jico model . BTW what ortofon model do you use for turntablism? Edited June 26, 2019 by dolepatrol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Symatic Posted June 26, 2019 Share Posted June 26, 2019 like a-skate said, they probably need wearing in - the cantilever (the tiny metal tube that has the stylus glued onto the end) can be really springy on new needles, i dunno if its the metal of the rubber suspension that holds it in place but something in there needs some time to loosen up. just play the run out groove over night a few times or something, although just using them with music is better.think of it like a football, you pump it up, it gets more bouncy, you let some air out, its less bouncy.... here we can't let any "air" out so we just have to give the mechanism some time to loosen up with use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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