TITANIC AUDIO MODEL A PHONO CARTRIDGE REVIEW
Alan McIntosh avoids the inevitable iceberg puns and takes a listen to the Titanic Audio Model A cartridge.
VERTERE SABRE MOVING MAGNET CARTRIDGE REVIEW
The Vertere Sabre moving magnet cartridge costs £845 and certainly looks the part. But how does it sound? Stuart Smith finds out for HiFi Pig. More »
The Origin Live Cartridge Enabler is a £25 piece of felt that fits between cartridge and headshell and comes with felt and nylon washers. In this Quickie Review, Stuart Smith gives it a spin. More »
Noriyuki Miyajima has earned a worldwide reputation for his artisanal phono cartridges. The Infinity Mono is the company’s new top monaural model.
Designer Noriyuki Miyajima has earned a worldwide following for his artisan phono cartridges. The new Saboten L (‘L’ denoting its line-contact stylus) is a low-output moving-coil (MC) design. It also happens to feature a cactus-spine cantilever, ‘Saboten’ being the Japanese word for cactus.
Ortofon will be celebrating their 100th anniversary in 2018. To celebrate they will be releasing new products, including, late this December the new SPU Wood A cartridge. More »
Grado Labs, of Brooklyn New York, has announced what they say is a major step forward in their affordable Prestige Series of phono cartridges. The Prestige Series 2 is the third generation of the Prestige series and a continuation of Grado’s entry level line of cartridges dating back to 1953. For sixty-four years the family has been dedicated to supporting vinyl playback with their phono cartridges at affordable prices. The Prestige Black2, Green2, Blue2, Red2, Silver2, and Gold2 continue this tradition. 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 »
Goldring is starting to ship its new E Series Moving Magnet cartridges which, they say, are “a range of high performance, premium quality, British designed products for the resurgent turntable market”. More »
Like the violins, violas and cellos crafted by the Stradivari family during the 17th and 18th centuries, almost all of van den Hul’s phono cartridges are personally hand built and tuned by Dutch cartridge designer Mr A.J. van den Hul himself. More »
Ortofon will be at the High End as usual displaying a full range of cartridges, including the new MC Windfeld Titanium, a new cartridge in the absolute high-end class. More »
Audio MusiKraft have announced their entry to the audiophile market with their brand new turntable products and online boutique. They say that their shells create “The world’s first and only “tweakable” And “customisable” Phono Cartridge”. More »
In 2013 DS Audio pioneered the world’s only optical phono cartridge, the DS-W1, which was an immediate hit in its native Japan. International distribution soon followed, now the company is proud to announce its new flagship, the Master 1. DS Audio’s new flagship Master 1 features a number of advances over the company’s original DS-W1. During a two-year development process, every aspect of design and construction was re-evaluated and no detail overlooked.
More »
Gold Note, the Italian High-End manufacturer based in Firenze – is going to release Vasari in October, a new MM cartridge engineered to offer high quality at a competitive price.
The cartridge will launch in two models: Vasari Red and Vasari Gold, both featuring a unique body design, fully machined from solid blocks to achieve a high dampening factor, a rigid aluminum cantilever and a custom diamond tip.
“Vasari is the best MM cartridge we have ever created” – stated Maurizio Aterini, Gold Note founder – “We have always been involved in analog audio, so much that we even make limited edition LPs. We just really like vinyl and that’s why we want vinyl lovers to be able to upgrade their systems and enjoy a better sound.”
Maurizio also explained: “Vasari is beautiful and efficient at the same time: we used high quality materials and developed custom designed elements to deliver an outstanding performance. After all, when you are looking at ways to improve the listening experience the first and easiest step should be to choose a better cartridge, and that’s what Vasari is made for.”
Vasari will be available through Gold Note dealers from September 2016 at an MSRP of €195 for Vasari Red and of €350 for Vasari Gold.
Vasari Gold SPECS:
Duraluminum machined body
Aluminum cantilever
Copper coil wire
Alnico magnet
elliptical diamond
suggested tracking weight 2.0g
output level 4.0mV
frequency response 15-25KHz
impedance 1KOhm
Vasari Red SPECS:
Delrin machined body
Aluminum cantilever
Copper coil wire
Alnico magnet
conical diamond
suggested tracking weight 2.0g
output level 4.0mV
frequency response 15-25KHz
impedance 1KOhm
Janine Elliot takes a listen to the Soundsmith Carmen Moving Iron Cartridge that is made in the US and costs £759.00. More »
