I am selling my MC-6310 cartridge. I am selling it only because I am changing over to a Soundsmith Strain Gauge setup, and selling all of my previous vinyl chain except for the table. The cartridge cost $5500 new in 2003, and I would like to get $1500 for it (or best offer). I live in southern Maryland.
This is a low-output moving coil, built into a machined body of hard carbon. Its creator, Mr. Kiyoaki Imai, says ""Cartridge that do not an excessive vibration of the needle, it is the birth at last". He refers to the excellent damping characteristics of the carbon body. The Audio Tekne website is here:
http://www.audiotekne.com/en/index.html.
This cartridge was on the Sterophile Class A list for several years, and was dropped last year (or maybe the year before) because too much time had elapsed since they had reviewed it. I do not recall seeing a full review of the cartridge in the magazine. The Class A writeup referred to the excellent soundstage, which I noted on my system, too. Michael Fremer listed it with his "associated equipment" in his review of the SME 30/2 in March 2003. I do not know if he is still using this cartridge.
Further review and discussion of the cartridge may be found in Hi-Fi News, Feb 2005, here:
http://www.soundscapehifi.com/mysoniclab-hifinews-may-2006.htm.
I played the cartridge with great satisfaction for several years on my VPI HR-X machine. I really don't listen to a lot of vinyl, and I split the duty with a Cardas Myrtle cartridge part of the time, so the cartridge does not have a great deal of use. Nonetheless, I sent it back to Mr. Kiyoaki in September 2005 for a complete inspection, and I have used it very little since then. I recall that he completely rebuilt the cartridge - rewound the coil and replaced the cantilever. I do not think it needed all that, but Imai is such a perfectionist, and his products are so expensive, that I guess he just gives lifetime service of the highest caliber as a matter of course. I guess I've played it 25-50 hours since then. The cartridge remains in fine condition. I recently looked at it under borrowed 30x magnification and observed that it is clean and the stylus exhibits no wear.
The cartridge has an output impedance of 2 ohms, and is recommended for 1.5 - 2.0 grams VTF. Its output is specified at 0.1 mVolt at 5 cm/sec, 1kHz modulation.
Here is a link to my Audio Tekne gallery:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=gallery
