One of the most important aspects of cartridge design is the diamond tip of the stylus. It is this jewel which has to retrieve information often represented by variations that measure millionths of an inch. If the profile of this diamond is cut to the wrong shape it will damage records and reduce the amount of retrievable information. The moving coil Shiraz cartridge has a stylus which we believe is the world's best diamond profile design. The Swiss made Gyger II has a super fine line profile offering excellent tracking ability with stunning detail retrieval and low surface noise. The body is made from solid aluminium alloy and fitted with a robust broadcast standard generator uniquely fixed to the body with three spikes giving it precise alignment and coupling without using distortion inducing adhesives. Excessive cantilever movements at certain frequencies are damped by the capacitors mounted directly to the generator over the coil where they accurately preserve the minute signal. The Shiraz produces relatively high output for a moving coil design, which is important for a good signal to noise ratio and channel separation, but requires careful matching to preamplifier phono stage. Once the Shiraz is set up correctly the sonic performance can not be matched by any other cartridge. Specifications Type- Moving coil Output- 0.21 mV/cm/sec (RMS) 1.05 mV @ 5cm/sec recorded velocity Stylus- Super fineline - Gyger II Cantilever- Aluminium tube Tracking weight- 2.2 -2.5 (2.4 grams recommended) Cartridge body- 5 axis machined solid aluminium alloy Generator fixing- Unique 3- point rigid fixing, spiked to body (without adhesive) Cartridge fixing- Standard 0.5 inch centres (12.7mm) Recommended load- 30-100Ù (100Ù recommended) Coil impedance- 24Ù Frequency response- 15Hz - 30kHz Channel balance- Within 1dB Channel separation- 30dB F I M- < 0.5%, 19ì Cartridge weight- 8.2 g
