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TURNTABLES: ACCESSORIES: THE CARTRIDGE MAN THE ISOLATOR
The Cartridge Man The Isolator - £85, free delivery
The chain of a vinyl playback system invariably links all three components, the cartridge, arm and turntable. All could collectively be called "the source". Well what if the cartridge could be isolated from the tone arm allowing the system to be the chain between cartridge, arm bearings and turntable. This alteration in the finely balanced equation that is "the record player", has a profound effective on its sonic aptitude. Gone are the issues of tone arm resonance and in comes the absolute clarification of the rule of Musical reproduction, get the source right!. The Isolator is an elegant and simple solution to a long term. The Isolator transforms your vinyl system whatever it be, Project, Rega, Hadcock, Schroeder, Kuzma, Tri Planar, Graham, Roksan or Origin Live to name but a few. An optional longer bolt version is available for arms with headshells thicker than 4.5mm. We have found mounting in Naim arms offers no significant difference.
OPTIONS:
6-2.4: for all tested tonearms using a cartridge with non threaded mounting holes. - Almost all MM and most MC's
6-2.0: for all tested tonearms using a cartridge with threaded mounting holes, i.e. Lyra, Dynavector
10-2.4: for all tonearms with an extra thick headshell and a cartridge with non threaded mounting holes.
10-2.0: for all tonearms with an extra thick headshell using a cartridge with threaded mounting holes.
DJ: heavy duty model to keep DJ's happy in the clubs and halls.
Reviews:
"This innocuous looking stainless steel sandwich may be the answer to an almost insurmountable problem. The Cartridge Mans' Isolator is constructed from two sheets of stainless steel, with a piece of compliant material placed between them. The top plate has two studs protruding which have nuts run down them, to attach the plate to the pick up arm. The pick up cartridge is simply adhered to the bottom plate via two small locating pins as the cartridge is placed onto the hi-tech glue film"..
"The differences were staggering, with the plate the stereo image width was simply huge, along with better depth and height. Bass was described with better information retrieval. Transients were certainly much clearer with a confident style of delivery. Timing in the transcription was much sharper allowing the music to pour out of the loudspeakers in an unfettered fashion. There seemed to be much more "space" around the musicians with a much lower noise floor. Vinyl and surface noise was reduced almost to silence. Intonation was easier to distinguish, as was the melody line of the music." Stewart Wennen. Writer Hi Fi World magazine
"The improvement gained by using The Isolator with any arm/cartridge combination trumps by far upgrades of components in the system: purchase of ‘better’ arms, cartridges, phono stages, cables, and tonearm wiring should be delayed until auditioning The Isolator with one’s existing components." Paul Szabady. StereoTimes Online Magazine
"There is no doubt in my mind that this isolator represents a significant advancement in the science of vinyl replay. Right now I would recommend the purchase of the Isolator to anyone with a vinyl front end priced over £300, and would put this in the same category as having a stylus force gauge and an accurate means of speed measurement, as an invaluable accessory which is mandatory for anyone serious about vinyl playback." David Allcock. Writer Hi Fi News magazine
Manufacturer: The Cartridge Man
Links: www.hiaudio.co.uk
Warranty: unknown
