PANASONIC EPC 450 C II Strain Gauge Cartridge

Neither moving magnet, nor moving coil, nor moving iron...what is it? 
Why doesn't function with my phono preamp ?!?

During a meeting / listening at the ESELAB (which has developed a preamplifier designed to use with this cartridge) I have been captured by an unusual system called strain gauge, based on old vintage CD4 Panasonic/Matsushita cartridges.

After some difficulties in finding in the bay, I was able to test the features of this particular technology (used in the past for CD4 quadriphonic records) directly into my system.

My early impressions were that, out-of-the-box the upper frequencies were well extended and the sound stage was nice and wide. Instead low frequency extension and depth were lacking (not missing,
but lacking). It seems that this cartridge takes some time not only to break in, but to warm up.
 
Although the system has not previously been "refreshed", even though these are VINTAGE components, I observe in my system that the overall result seems to prefer the high register.

I do not know how much is influenced by the preamplifier (Panasonic SE 405 Demodulator) or by the cartridge...
Anyway stay tuned for the new demodulator coming ;)

PS: HERE another RARE Panasonic Strain Gauge Cartridge

Listening to Vinyl makes you better...?

Bit of a ... laugh

... and of course it makes you better ;)

ALLNIC AUDIO H 3000 Phono Preamplifier

Directly from South Korea this amazing valve phono preamp.


A two chassis unit, one for the power supply, one for the preamp...the bigger chassis houses two amplification tubes per channel, two additional tubes per channel for power regulation, so we have a total of 8 tubes in the main chassis. The Allnic is a transformer-coupled phono preamp and the main chassis also houses all the transformers.

It has two attractive current meters on the front panel and a large central knob for the inputs. There are two MM inputs and two MC inputs to choose from. Simply the best for multi cartridge systems ;)


The Allnic sounds like I never heard in my system...quiet, very dynamic, reveals the nuances of music so beautifully, especially in the low frequencies, and reproduces an incredible soundstage.

In conclusion simply an amazing preamp...not the perfect one (does exist?), but a very special phono stage.

Pimp your THORENS TD 124

Let's see some tweaks for the truly committed audiophile...
First of all a new silicon gel mushrooms  to defeat vibrations and improve the silence...

 

  ...a bronze bearing end cup...

 

...and a new idler wheel with silicon o-ring

 

 

 Bravo Simone !!!

ALLNIC VERITO Z

...some pictures of this strange MC cart...

...a high-end bargain, liable to produce a sound that few other cartidges can match...tight and quick bass, crystal clear treble, great soundstage and space...in my system the low frequency extension and impact were not missing, but not quite in the same class as its midrange and soundstage...

 

 

 

...truly amazing.

ANALOG Yard Sale

Simply the biggest analog collection I ever seen...HERE you will find everything you need to play at the highest level your records: mc phono cartridges, step up, tonearms and turntables of the best producers, especially of the golden era Japanese.

 

 

 

For any further information and prices please send your inquiries to:  

maxanalog@hotmail.it

 

Passion for vinyl

For anyone who loves records a book called Passion For Vinyl...written by various people that love records...

Looks great and of high quality. Just ordered my copy ;)