Madake Stereo MC Cartridge

A highly distinctive cartridge built around a rare natural material...
Introducing the Miyajima Madake

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The Madake uses special Japanese bamboo from Kyoto for its cantilever, a material Miyajima chose in pursuit of a firm, non-metal cantilever with its own unique sonic signature. This rare bamboo is noted by the maker for its strength and special sound quality, and gives the cartridge a character all of its own.

Combined with Miyajima’s Cross Ring generator and African Blackwood body, the Madake offers a natural, highly expressive performance with a strong sense of identity and musical presence.

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Specs

What Makes Miyajima Cartridges Special? 

There is nothing unique about using wood for cartridge bodies, but Miyajima cartridges have a unique, patented design that really is different to any other moving coil cartridge available.  Miyajima understood that traditional moving coil cartridges suffer from resonances and distortion, firstly due to the tie-wire that typically holds the cantilever and coil assembly against the magnet pole piece with a compliant insert between to allow some movement.  The tie wire has to be very precisely tightened so that the coil assembly is correctly aligned, but its disadvantage is that it resonates, introducing distortion.  The second source of distortion is the typical iron coil former of a moving coil cartridge, which actually distorts the lines of magnetic flux between the pole pieces, as it moves through those lines.  Miyajima have a patented cross ring coil structure that has a non-magnetic core, neatly side-stepping this problem.  The next innovation was to eliminate the tie-wire altogether.  Instead, Miyajima use a pointed slide bar that  locates the coil assembly very precisely from behind at its pivot point, which is also the centre point of the magnet, while gently pushing the coil assembly against a compliant insert.  This means that the coil assembly can pivot unimpeded by a tensioning wire.  Here is a helpful animation showing how Miyajima cartridges work:

What's The End Result? 

Miyajima cartridges really do have dramatically lower distortion, compared to other MC cartridges, and these can sound like CD in comparison.  The sound is smooth, but don't think that they are 'rolled off' or lacking in 'bite' - the smoothness is a reflection of the low distortion.  Miyajima cartridges are effortlessly musical too.  Paul Rigby reviewed the original Takumi here, and gave it a 'Groovy' award.