On the 9th of October 2018, Ortofon A/S celebrates its 100 years anniversary. Specialising in the manufacture of phono pick-up cartridges, the Danish company have announced the newly developed MC Century limited edition cartridge. It is now available in the UK through Henley Audio. More »
Transfiguration moving coil (MC) phono cartridges are hand-crafted in Japan by Immutable Music’s Seiji Yoshioka. Their design has always been guided by two firm principles: first, to extract the most musical detail from a record’s groove and second, to get out of the way. So when it’s said that a Transfiguration cartridge ‘lacks character’, it’s a compliment. Says Yoshioka, “The best audio components are those that simply don’t seem to exist – so good that they add nothing, subtract nothing.” More »
Zesto Audio has announced their first audio accessory, the Andros Allasso Step Up Transformer. The international debut will take place at the X-FI Audio Show in Holland on September 30th and the US launch will be at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in Denver, CO, October 6-8 in exhibit room #7009 at the Marriott Tech Center. More »
In 2008, Ortofon honoured Per Windfeld with the release of the MC Windfeld cartridge. Mr Windfeld worked with Ortofon for over thirty years, during his time as Chief Engineer becoming widely recognised in the industry as a true hifi visionary. Since his retirement, Ortofon has continued to grow as a company. So nearly ten years after the original release, the decision has now been taken to update the MC Windfeld with the very latest technologies. More »
Clearaudio have been engaged in ongoing research into moving coil (MC) technology since 1978. Still, their design team found themselves facing quite a challenge when tasked with developing a brand new cartridge that would improve on the existing entry-level Concept MC, but without breaking a key price point, says the company’s latest press release. 
Like the Concept MC, the Essence MC’s body is constructed from a high-density aluminium-magnesium alloy, which is then coated with a ceramic layer to minimize resonance.
Meanwhile, the boron cantilever, microline stylus and Clearaudio-patented moving coil generator with its hand-selected high-performance magnets have each been subjected to rigorous scrutiny in order to achieve tighter tolerances. The result they say is “improved dynamic performance, higher resolution and channel matching of better than 0.5 dB”.
The Essence MC will partner with almost any MC phonostage at a price that won’t break the bank. Its angular body shape with centre line at the front makes it easy to align, while threaded holes mean that you don’t have to fiddle with screws and nuts. It comes with a full cover stylus guard.
Technical specifications
| Construction | Aluminum-magnesium alloy with ceramic surface layer;
microline stylus; boron cantilever; OFC copper coils |
| Frequency response | 20 Hz – 40 kHz |
| Output voltage | 0.4 mV at 5 cm/s |
| Recommended tracking force | 2.0 g (+/- 0.2 g) |
| Channel separation | > 32 dB |
| Channel difference (balance) | < 0.3 dB |
| Compliance | 9/9 μ/mN |
| Cartridge impedance | 11 Ω |
| Total weight | 8.0 g |
| Warranty | 2 years (provided warranty card completed and returned to Clearaudio within specified timescale) |
The Clearaudio Essence MC is available now priced at £795 (including VAT).
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