Try it with a London Decca!
Sorane ZA-12: $2500 $$$ . Discounted at some retailers, including Amazon and B&H.
Specs include an impedance of 3 ohms, output of 0.25mV, and a weight of 8.1gm. The HSD 006 impressed AD as "more spatially accomplished, and perhaps a little more tactile" than the TSD 15, and suggested that, when partnered with the right tonearm and phono stage, "it will sing." Using his oven or the Groovy Pouch, SM was able to successfully flatten even severely warped and dished LPs, but cautions: "Be sure that your oven's temperature is properly calibrated before baking your precious LPs."
SM's verdict: "If you're looking for a high-value cartridge . The jumper plug is located on the left side of smaller power supply circuit board labeled ECC83 and 13D16. . Inputs and outputs are balanced (XLR) only, and input impedance is fixed at 47k ohms for MM and 100 ohms for MC. That this low-impedance (1.5 ohm) cartridge outputs a relatively healthy output (0.45mV) is further evidence of its magnetic efficiency. While pricey, the ORB Phono Accessories are beautifully made and work well, said Mikey. HR's closing thoughts: "I could dream away my sunset years listening only with the Etsuro Urushi Cobalt Blue: It does everything I desire."
In a Follow-Up, MF echoed AD's praise for the original Tzar and said about the wood-bodied version, which also has a brass top plate, that it produced "all of the aluminum-bodied version's weight and 'straight from the groove to your body and brain' musical communication, but it lightened the heaviness somewhat, with some rounding and airiness where the original was angular and literal." For $29,000, SAT offers a 12" version, the LM-12, although designer Gomez still suggests that, all else being equal, 9" arms offer superior performance.
He described the EMIA as offering "an immense sense of drive" with his EMT, as well as "texture and tone in spades.
and the best-built arm I have owned." One of three limited-edition cartridge models produced in celebration of Ortofon's 100th anniversary, the SPU Century is a G-style (52mm from mounting collet to stylus tip) pickup head containing an updated version of Ortofon's classic low-compliance SPU motor. While it couldn't quite match the bottom-octave punch, definition, and extension of the Pass Labs XP-25, the Ypsilon produced a more transparent, silky, airy overall sound, said MF. As for the titanium versionAudio-Creative sent samples of bothAD noted that the differences "all fell in the heavier armtube's favor," with deeper and more forceful bass and "firmer note attacks."
Later comparing the Koetsu with a budget Audio-Technica moving magnet, HR wrote that he heard sublime ease and dramatic understatement: "Immediately, I grasped how unsubtle the VM95C was.
Dave Slagle, whose radically rebuilt Quad ESL loudspeakers have astounded more than a few listeners, winds his own step-up transformers and sells them under the brand name EMIAa collaborative design and manufacturing effort with Jeffrey Jackson, who specializes in tube amplification and horn loudspeakers. Dandy is an inexpensive manual record-cleaning rig that uses a proprietary cleaning solution comprising a degreasing detergent and an alcohol-based carrier, followed by a tap-water rinse. (Vol.42 No.3), Musical Surroundings Phonomena II+: $750
It offers superb fit and finish, with a clean, spare bearing cradle and a smoothly solid pickup-head socket.
HR got the best from the Cobalt Blue by pairing it with the 1:10 version of the EMIA Phono step-up transformer, writing that during the time it was in his system, "I never once took the Cobalt Blue's beguiling occupy-the-room presentation for granted.
Thanks again for the great reviews.
The price includes the necessary equalizer module. That said, it was with that cartridge that The Grail impressed Mikey with "the 'blackest' backgrounds, out of which sprang startlingly delicate yet believably solid three-dimensional images." Although equipped with the usual two pairs of output pins, the Epoch Mono has only one pair of coils (the stereo version has two pairs), configured to respond to only the horizontal modulations of a single-channel groove. It weighs 7.3gm, has an output of 2.5mV, and uses an elliptical stylus tip and aluminum cantilever. Ortofon's MC Anna phono cartridge, introduced in 2013, apparently remains a popular choice for analog perfectionists who can afford its $8924 price, but it has now been joined in the line by a newer, more expensive variant, the MC Anna Diamond, into which has downtrickled the diamond cantilever of the company's limited-edition MC Century cartridge.
On the other hand, as Mikey noted, if you prefer a rich, warm sound, the Voyager didn't provide itbut it did combine well with such warmish-sounding cartridges as the Kiseki Purple Heart, which happens to be a favorite of VPI's founder, Harry Weisfeld. It's as much reliable test instrument as supreme carrier of unassuming musical pleasure." solidly three-dimensional images" and a good sense of immediacy. When Herb loaded it with 100 ohms, "the result was an exceedingly rich and unaffected sound," and the Koetsu "seemed engineered to do nothing but hold my attentionmy pleasurable fascinationas it showed me the art behind the music." Also an excellent match for both the Music Hall Ikura and VPI Nomad turntables," he adds. The EMIA is available with copper or silver windings; AD spent some quality time with a copper-wire version wound with a 15:1 ratio, for use with his EMT TSD 15 and Denon DL-103 cartridges. Weight: 6.5 g Output voltage: 1kHz, 5cm/sec: 4mV Frequency response: 20 Hz 23 kHz Channel balance: 1kHz: > 1.5 dB Channel separation: 1kHz: > 25 dB Recommended loading: 47k ohms In 2015, PTP introduced their proprietary Solid Bearing, a ?300 retrofittable option that also impressed AD, who feels strongly that the Solid12 is a perennially recommendable product.
But he added that driving the Vinyl with a smooth-sounding cartridge "might produce oversmooth results."
Borderline Class B. Reed's 5T tonearm (see "Tonearms") and an Ortofon MC Century cartridge "extracted musical fun from every record I played, plus a sense of ease and relaxation." Compared with the Cobra, the Kuzma sounded more natural and energetic. Because it's an MM design, the Suzaku's stylus is factory-replaceable for a mere 19% of the cartridge's total retail price; unfortunately, because that price is over $16k, a new stylus will nevertheless cost $3135: more than the price of many Class A phono cartridges. [Edited version of post on Herb's original review]. Thanks! In his original review, MF praised the Fuuga's neutral tonal balance, lack of harshness/hardness, and "startling macrodynamic slam."
The first cartridges from Kuzma are the moving-coil CAR-50 and CAR-60, both of which have a chunky machined-aluminum body with a brass coupling plate machined with three pairs of threaded mounting holes; the CAR-50's MicroRidge stylus is fitted to a sapphire cantilever, while the CAR-60's cantilever is made of diamond. (Vol.41 No.2 WWW), Bergmann Odin Tonearm System: $13,400
Auditioned with a Graham Engineering Elite tonearm, the AFO Premium impressed MF with "its ultraquiet backgrounds, the generosity of its presentation of instrumental sustain and decay, its neutral spectral balance, and [its] dynamic presentation . HR concluded that the DS003 and the more expensive energizer "specialized in producing a vivid clarity framed in a beguiling chiaroscuro" coupled with "super-silky silences" and "taut, tuneful, textured bass." 
The Ti's armature is also less magnetic than the first Windfeld's: a windfall (sorry) of the new cartridge's more sophisticated magnet structure. Made in the Netherlands by Peter Reinders, the Solid12 has a heavy Corian plinth and uses reconditioned components from original heavy-platter, idler-wheel Lenco turntables: motors (along with their suspension cradles and wiring blocks), platters, platter bearings, platter mats, idler wheels, and idler-support mechanisms. A unique blend of new and old technologies, the Xpression derives from Ortofon's cutting-edge MC A90, but is designed as a drop-in replacement for any G-style pickup head. At the business end of the Hana's aluminum cantilever is a Shibata styluscause, HR says, for the user to give "more-than-usual care" to cartridge alignment and downforce and antiskating settingsand deep in the Hana SL's plastic-bodied heart is an alnico magnet, to which Herb attributes the cartridge's timbral realism and ability to make "singers and instruments sound denser and more real." Also included are a faucet-coupling adaptor, a protractor, and a length of clear plastic tubing with a pressurized water nozzle. His conclusion: the Koetsu Rosewood Mono is a good choice "if your system needs a bit of softening of transients."
The Japan-made Sorane (originally called Abis) SA-1.2 is a high-mass 9" tonearm that began life as the Abis SA-1, famous for impressing AD and for having been withdrawn from an earlier edition of "Recommended Components"by its importer!while undergoing revision. (Vol.28 No.5; Vol.35 No.4 Vol.38 No.5 WWW), Dhmann Audio Helix One Mk2: $49,000 As in the designs of the late Tom Fletcher of Nottingham Analogue, the British-built Palmer Audio 2.5 mates a massive (21lb) aluminum-alloy platter with an AC motor so tiny and so low in torque that merely pushing the on/off button on its outboard power supply won't set the platter spinning: The user must start it by hand.
Stylus treatment designed to reduce friction between groove and phono cartridge.
Just for the benefit of any readers thinking about rolling those tubes, here's some extra instruction I received from an engineer at EAR Yoshino on how to go about it: "Remove the top cover by removing four screws on the bottom of the unit.
It can accommodate up to four different tonearms, as long as two are fitted with MM cartridges and the other two with MCs, and uses six dual-triode tubes; MC gain is supplied by internal step-up transformers, from Jensen. forced me to peer into its depths in search of more tangible bits of wood, metal, and flesh." (Vol.34 Nos.5 & 9 WWW), EMT TSD 75 SFL: $2150
With its three-figure price, the CG 25DI also offers exceptionally high value.
Other specs include an African blackwood body, a 16 ohm internal impedance, output of 0.23mV, a recommended downforce of 2.5gm, and a line-contact stylus that's nude-mounted in a metal ferrule, itself bonded to a tapered-bamboo cantilever. AD thought the platter clamp added an unwelcome touch of fussiness to the sound, but was otherwise impressed with the Prime Scout, praising its talents for preserving sonic colors, communicating musical drive, and "throwing a remarkably big, spacious, convincingly detailed soundstage" when playing records so inscribed.
It is eligible for inclusion in the April 2021 edition. the 2M Red is an excellent place to start."
But for hobbyists who prefer having a step-up transformer between their MC cartridges and their phono preamp, the Heed is not an ideal choice: After measuring the Quasar, JA praised its considerable flexibility but noted the lower-than-specified input impedance in many of its various settings, and concluded that this phono stage will perform its best only with MC cartridges connected directly to its MC inputs.
(Without the latter, the AFO Premium sells for $145,000.) Pertinent specs: The Master 1 weighs 8.1gm, sports a MicroRidge stylus on a sapphire cantilever, and requires a downforce of 1.61.8gm.
Please fix it. Tube-rolling can also yield excellent results.
(Vol.42 No.3 WWW), Ortofon SPU Wood A: $1699 loudspeakers, amplifiers etc).
From there it got only better, impressing AD as "the most vintage-soundingthe most SPU-soundingof the modern SPUs that I've heard." Performance with the stock spherical stylus tip squeaks into low Class B, he adds, saying that, "apart from various Miyajimas and the always-recommendable Miyabi 47, it's hard for me to think of another standard (non-pickup-head) type of cartridge that has this much impact and drama."
Because its Shibata stylus is sensitive to rake angle, the 2M Black should be used only with tonearms that permit adjustment of VTA and SRA, Mikey advised.
Loaded with 80 ohms, this low-output moving coil impressed HR with the intensity with which it endowed familiar recordings, as well as the enhanced intelligibility of vocals, "natural-feeling contrast levels, grain-free clarity, and lifelike solidity."
Retained from the original Phantom is Graham's patented Magneglide system, in which magnets are used to stabilize the arm's inverted-unipivot bearing. (Vol.39 No.8 WWW), Hana ML Moving Coil: $1200 $$$ (We loved it with the Technics SL-1200G). ZYX makes some of the finest phono cartridges in the worldat a significant price. (See examples below.) But their entry level model, the Bloom 3, offers a considerable chunk of the musically honest and transparent sound of the bigger boys at a price that seems like a typo.
One issue later, Mikey reported that the Kuzma-recommended load of >100 ohms for both CARs was intended by the manufacturer to read <100 ohms, and put his earlier remarks into perspective, noting that "my 'excitement' is someone else's ear-bleed," and reminding the reader that the CAR-60 in particular offers "what you should expect [for over $10,000]" in terms of bottom-end extension and resolution of low-level detail. Used with a variety of cartridges, the Zero and SA-750 delighted Herb with their "uniquely unhurried, understated brand of forward momentum" and grainless trebles. In belt-drive mode, the 3C had a more appealing way with textures and spatial relationships, but its softer, less taut bass "soon had me returning to the friction rollers." Also on the rear panel are an XLR input and an XLR output: Unusually, the Celio can be configured as a mono phono preamp, in which case it has balanced throughput. Viewed from above, from its bearing housing forward, the ZA-12 is a single, long, continuous rectangle of aluminum, unbroken by even a headshell: Two slots for cartridge-mount bolts are machined at the specified offset angle (16.5), and a slender finger lift is screwed in place. Crafted from aluminum and stainless steel, it uses precision ball bearings for both vertical and lateral movement, and is available with either flying signal leads or a captured output cable of the usual sort. The new SAT arm also has more robust bearings and a stiffer armtube, and its detachable headshell has been redesigned to provide more rigid coupling and smoother rotational action, the latter for more precise setting of azimuth. (Vol.38 No.10, Vol.43 No.9 WWW), Grado Epoch3: $12,000 Subsequent to moving their phono-cartridge division from Germany to Switzerland, EMT introduced the new entry-level HSD 006, built into a semi-open aircraft-aluminum body with threaded mounting holes. With the Tedeska in his system, MF expressed some disappointment that macrodynamics were less than fully expressed"I wanted more oomph"but praised the DST201UA as "a well-balanced, high-performance cartridge that bridges the gap between being too soft and too analytical." (Vintage-savvy audiophiles can consider this Class A.)
Used in AD's high-mass (and thus low-compliance-cartridgefriendly) EMT 997 tonearm, the Saboten L impressed him with its good color, touch, and sheer substance.
SME 309, SME 3125, Spiral Groove Centroid, no longer available.
VTA and azimuth are easily adjusted, and a magnetic antiskating mechanism is included.
This solid-state, dual-mono phono preamp, supplied in two chassisone for the audio circuitry, one for the power supplyhas separate RCA input jacks for MC and MM cartridges, and separate output jacks, also RCAs, for low and high output levels. Compared to the combo of Continuum Cobra arm and Ortofon A90 cartridge, the 4Point with Lyra Titan i offered greater timbral, textural, and image solidity, said MF. Tracking force recommended 1.5 g (15 mN) Load resistance 47 kOhm Load capacitance 150 300 pF Weight, Cartridge 7.2 g. Weight, Premounted 16.7 g. 2M "It's what you can expect for $400 [price when reviewed]," said MF.
EMT HSD 006: $1860 Used with the HCVC01 passive current-to-voltage converter (see "Phono Preamplifiers"), its presentation was on the cool side, though MF noted that "warm records did not lose their warmth altogether. Press Start when you lower the pickup on to the LP and Stop at the end of the side. (Note that vdH refers to this product not as a current amplifier but as an "automatic adapting input stage"; as we say in upstate New York, same difference . everything except a video camera for backing it out of the driveway. Like its stablemate, the Hana SL Mono, this moving coil cartridge impressed Herb with its "naturally supple viscosity and glowing vivid tone." The Zu DL-103 Mk.II is available in three versions, the differences between them determined by the tolerances Zu observes while hand-selecting stock Denon cartridges: Grade 1 ($599), Grade 2 ($699), and Grade 2 Premium ($999). Of his time with the Rosewood Signature Platinum, HR wrote that "this Koetsu, with its lacquered rosewood body, silver-plated copper coils, quadrahedral stylus profile, boron cantilever, and platinum magnet, gave me a sixth-row seat for [a] long-cherished recording." (Vol.39 No.8 WWW), Hana ML Moving Coil: $1200 $$$
I can't stand it ! A cantilevered aluminum armboard clamps to the tops of those corner poststhe Avenger Reference can simultaneously accommodate up to three tonearmsand the platter is rim-driven by an idler wheel that is itself belt-driven by two AC synchronous motors.
He subsequently purchased the review sample. HR loved the Hana's "beguiling, tubelike sound," but he noted that it "could not out-rock or out-reggae the Zu/Denon [DL-103]." The plinth weighs 50.7lb!
Recommended Components: Fall 2020 Edition, Recommended Components: 2019 Fall Edition, Recommended Components: Fall 2018 Edition, Recommended Components: Fall 2017 Edition, Recommended Components: Fall 2016 Edition, Montreal Audio Fest 2023: Final observations, Gershman Acoustics, Eon Art, Oracle Audio, Reed, Cardas, Sonic Artistry: Stenheim, darTZeel, Merging Technologies, Nordost, Seismion, Hearken Room: Graham Audio, Lejonklou, Yeti, Jean Nantais, Aidas, Cardas, Graham Engineering, Art et Son, On a Higher Note, MoonRiver, Graham Audio, Bergman Audio, Artesania, Cardas, Filtronique: Nagra, Wilson Audio, Modulum , Siltech. Legato phrases were more sosomething as easy to enjoy as to hear." Its copper-wire coils are wound on an air-core former, bathed in the flux lines of a samarium-cobalt magnet; a line-contact stylus is fitted to the business end of its boron cantilever. Herb's conclusion: "my new reference phono stage." The result is the most neutral-sounding Miyajima cartridge to date." 
Battery-powered, reasonably priced, seems to do the job as well as any of them, decided MF. A word of caution regarding the Nomad's headphone amp: "It had much more gain than most pairs of headphones need.
101.3, replaced by new version not yet reviewed. See the Rega Planar 3 entry in Turntables and Gramophone Dreams in Vol.40 No.2 WWW. Based on the Syrinx PU2 tonearm of the 1980sa product that BJR, AD, and other Stereophile contributors have owned and lovedthe Audio Origami PU7 from Scotland is a pivoting arm with a gimbaled ball-race bearing. The Outer Limit was "a pain to center." That said, it turns out the Onyx Platinum's nominal mineral was the first nonwood, nonmetal material used in a Koetsu cartridgeand its nominal element went on to be used for the magnets in all of the company's top-end cartridges. The diamond-cut ceramic platter rests on a machined-aluminum subplatter, with upper and lower ceramic braces between the platter bearing and the tonearm mount, the latter home to a Rega RB3000 arm. The purpose of the Sentec EQ11 is to make many of those differences go away."