Oh this is great news, not for me (as I already own 2 Shure M44-7 carts, a vintage one made in USA and a newer one from the early 2000s, made in Mexico) but for so many out there who either really miss the M44-7 or desperately need the M44-7, this is really a god send. And knowing Jico, they may end up producing one even better than the original, at a reasonable price. Their online sales and shipping, is also very efficient.
I must be one of the only mavericks around who uses a M44-7 (+ N44-7) with a SME 3009 Version II, Improved, the so-called audiophile version with fixed head-shell. A great combination for Indian manufactured records in pristine condition. On the other hand, the highly under-estimated Technics S-Shaped tonearm with the M44-7 (+ N44-7) can play any used Indian pressing in whatever condition (actually it will play any record in any condition provided the record does not have groove damage). Folk normally associate the M44-7 with the statement mentioned in this paragraph, about its tracking abilities, and so on but I think the real beauty of this cartridge is in its sound signature. It is not an honest reproduction agent and produces a loud and bass-dominated sound. What i have noticed (and this is my personal opinion and interpretation) with Indian pressings (especially OST records) is that the engineers usually struggled to put all the tracks on the record. Some of them resorted to fading and truncating the music content but I have always suspected that some engineers may have by-passed or violated the RIAA standards and rolled off the bass even more in order to reduce the groove width, thereby getting slightly more space on each side. What makes me assume this is that some records really sound very screechy or with light mids and no bass. When playing these records with say, a Shure V15 III for example, they tend to sound very loud and harsh but with the M44-7, they somehow end-up sounding listenable. Also the M44-7 is a high output cartridge and hence will work well with almost any kind of phono-stage or phono-input and its bassy sound signature also helps compensate for any deficiencies in the amplification (in relation to RIAA reverse-eq).
Also I can imagine a new topic for debate on various online forums - Jico M44-7 vs Shure M44-7 (Mexico) vs Shure M44-7 (USA)
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