Shiraz Moving Coil Cartridge

Manufacturer:	Roksan
Price:	£1249.99

One of the most important aspects of cartridge design is the diamond tip of the stylus. It is this tiny otherwise inert jewel which tracks the groove and has to retrieve information often represented by variations which measure millionths of an inch. If the profile of this diamond is cut to the wrong shape it will cause wear and tear to your records, reducing the amount of information they carry, and subsequently depreciating your long term listening pleasure.
With records becoming increasingly rare, not to say valuable, ROKSAN has sourced, in its opinion, the world's best diamond profile design for the Shiraz cartridge. The Swiss-made Gyger II has a super fineline profile offering excellent tracking ability with stunning detail retrieval and low surface noise. Unlike spherical and conical profiles it smoothly negotiates the groove without harming the vinyl.
The Shiraz body is made from solid aluminium on a computer controlled milling machine and is threaded and supplied with non-magnetic screws for easy alignment. The robust broadcast standard generator is uniquely fixed to the body with three spikes giving it precise alignment without using distortion inducing adhesives.
Excessive cantilever movements at certain frequencies are damped by the capacitors mounted directly to the generator over the coil where they accurately preserve the minute signal. The Shiraz produces a relatively high output for a moving coil design, which is important for a good signal to noise ratio and channel separation, but will need careful matching to your preamplifier phono stage.