BENZ MICRO-MC LP REFERENCE CARTRIDGE .35MV OUTPUT
A music lover's dream! The Benz LP is the most technically advanced design from the famed Swiss manufacturer. Housed in a special, limited edition, aged ebony body; the LP differs from other world-class cartridge designs in that it is supremely musical. We have never heard any cartridge that matches the LP's warmth and natural portrayal of instruments. Probably not the cartridge for fans who require the ultimate in speed and detail retrieval. But if you are like many analog lovers, and prefer supreme musicality and listenability, you will love the sound of this cartridge! A musicdirect favorite.
Building on the already acclaimed and awesome sounding Ruby 2 platform, the team made a few key refinements and innovations. First, and most obvious, is the new aged Ebony body which is not only visually stunning, but also influences the cartridge's sonic character. Ebony is an extremely dense and rich tonewood, when combined with the Ruby 2 platform the result is a warm, lush sound with more controlled bass and a richer, rounder mid-bass response versus the Ruby 2. Not content to stop there, the team used new low output, symmetrical coil windings for the Ebony LP. The original Ruby used higher output windings that were asymmetrical and while the Ruby 2 reduced coil windings, it still kept them in an asymmetrical configuration. By changing to a symmetrical coil winding pattern, the Ebony LP offers improved clarity and increased phase coherence when compared to the Ruby and Ruby 2. As a result of the reduction in coil windings, the Ebony LP is also able to offer faster dynamic and transient response than the Ruby 2. Unlike the Ruby 2, the Ebony LP has a lower output (0.35mV). Finally, the bar for part matching, calibration and attention to detail is raised even higher for the Ebony LP. Of particular interest is the extra care and time spent with suspension fine tuning before the cartridge leaves the factory.
“The best-sounding transducer I’ve heard from that [Benz-Micro] company whose past products have always left me wanting more. This one, mated with the right arm, is quintessentially musical!”
- Harry Pearson, The Absolute Sound, Golden Ear Award, February 2006
The Ebony LP phono cartridge is completely hand built in Benz-Micro's facility in Switzerland and will be a limited production piece due to the scarcity of the aged Ebony wood used in crafting the outer shell.
