VINYL lovers are aware that as a general rule, moving coil (MC) cartridges offer more sophistication compared with moving magnet (MM) designs… but obtaining truly great MC cartridge performance does not come cheap, However, with the all-new Essence MC phono cartridge, German turntable specialist Clearaudio has come up with a replacement for its existing entry-level Concept MC, without breaking a key price point.
The brief for the new cartridge was simple – Clearaudio says it took “the ‘essence’ of its Concept MC design and applied even more stringent parameters to key elements of its construction”.
The Essence MC is the distillation of Clearaudio’s expertise garnered over 40 years of MC cartridge manufacturing, and the results are purportedly stunning.
The body of the Essence MC is constructed from a high-density aluminium-magnesium alloy, which is further coated with a ceramic layer to minimise resonance.
It also applied stricter and tighter requirements for the internal mechanism – from its boron cantilever and even to the magnets used.
“The result? Improved dynamic performance, higher resolution and channel matching of better than 0.5 dB,” the company claims in a press release.
The Essence is capable of a frequency response of 20Hz to 40kHz and has an output voltage of 0.4 mV at 5 cm/s. Recommended tracking force is 2g and the cartridge itself weighs 8g.
This cartridge is made for easy set-up, and features a distinctive centre line at the front for hassle-free alignment – and threaded mounting holes negate the use of fiddly nuts and bolts.
The price – a mere £795, and available now.
