TOP WING HANDMADE CARTRIDGES NOW AVAILABLE
The Blue Dragon and Red Sparrow are phono cartridges, not mythical beasts. Pure Music Group has added the elite series of Japanese handmade Top Wing cartridges to its expanding product portfolio.
First to arrive will be two revolutionary moving coil models called ever so delightfully, the Seiryu (Blue Dragon) and the Suzaku (Red Sparrow).
Yes, that’s right, it’s the Suzaku and not to be confused with those four wheels drive tin cans with an almost similar brand name.
But whatever they’re called, Top Wing cartridges push the design envelope by using a Coreless Straight Flux power generation system.
This was designed by no less an audio notary than Hiromu Megura, the man that has worked on the design of Grace’s legendary and still sought after F-8 and F-9 moving magnet cartridges.
A deeply talented all-rounder, Hiromu Megurasan also worked on the Nakamichi Dragon CT and TX1000 cassette players.
Uniquely, the Coreless Straight Flux generating system has no core material, and the left and right channels are arranged in a V formation directly above the magnet.
Tracking a groove, the stylus senses fluctuations in magnetic flux generated by the undulations of the groove transmitting them directly and totally accurately.
This system differs from standard moving coil cartridges in which the output gyrations of a coil move irregularly within the magnetic flux. A system ensuring the output line in the Coreless Straight Flux cartridges is unaffected by these fluctuations.
The Blue Dragon and Red Sparrow are equipped with the Coreless Straight Flux system, but the bodies are different.
The Blue Dragon’s is built using Ultra Duralium while the lighter Red Sparrow is made from a composite blend of Titanium, Dry carbon and high-performance resins.
The Seiru (Blue Dragon) is $9,400 RRP and Suzaku (Red Sparrow) is $12,500 RRP.
For more information visit the Top Wing brand page.
Specifications
Seiryu (Blue Dragon)
Type of power generation: Coreless straight-flux
Stylus: Line contact
Cantilever material: Aluminium
Housing Material: Ultra Duralium
Output at 5 cm/s at 1 kHz: 0.2 mV
Internal impedance: 12.3Ω
Inductance: Secret (but non-sensitive to capacitive load)
Recommended tracking weight: 1.75 g–2.0 g
Headshell material: Ultra Duralumin (adopting Fidelix Mitchaku Contact technology)
Weight: 12.3 g (total weight equipped with the attached headshell: 30.0 g)
Suzaku (Red Sparrow)
Type of power generation: Coreless straight-flux
Stylus: Line contact
Cantilever material: Aluminium
Housing Material: Composite Titanium, Dry Carbon and High Performance Resins
Output at 5 cm/s at 1 kHz: 0.2 mV
Internal impedance: 12.3Ω
Inductance: Secret (but non-sensitive to capacitive load)
Recommended tracking weight: 1.75 g–2.0 g
Weight: < 9 g
Further reading: Turntables and Phono Amplifiers Discussion Forum.
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Peter Familari
One of the veterans of the Australian HiFi industry, Peter was formerly the Audio-Video Editor of the Herald Sun for over two decades. One of the most-respected audio journalists in Australia, Peter brings his unparalleled experience and a unique story-telling ability to StereoNET.
Posted in: StereoLUX! | Hi-Fi
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