Touraj Moghaddam has today confirmed with StereoNET that all Vertere DG-1 Dynamic Groove record players shipped with cartridges are now fitted with the new Vertere Magneto cartridge installed and aligned. Moreover, this has been the case since last month, we are told. This follows December's news of the company's Mystic moving coil cartridge.

The 'Starter Package' that includes the cartridge all set-up and ready to go is priced at £2,850.

     
The Vertere Magneto is apparently closely related to the Audio Technica VM520EB cartridge originally fitted to the DG-1 and is stylus compatible with the AT VM5x range. This allows owners to upgrade to an improved stylus profile, should they wish to, or when the time comes to renew.

Vertere states that the Magneto was chosen as the ideal starter cartridge. The reasoning for this is, firstly, that it's highly tolerant of records that are in less than the perfect condition thanks, in part, to its elliptical stylus profile.

However, Magneto, is superbly musical, according to the brand, and sports a dual-magnet design set-up in a 'V' formation that mimics the Left and Right channel sides of the groove. Additionally, the cartridge's permalloy centre shield plate is said to provide a higher frequency response with electrical crosstalk typically better than 40dB. Frequency response is quoted as being 20hz-23kHz with channel separation being 27dB (1kHz). The Magneto requires 1.8 – 2.2g of tracking force, with a stated 2.0g recommend.

We have also been told that Vertere will be publishing a blog and video later in the year highlighting the upgrade paths available to DG-1 owners. While the DG-1 is significantly more of a plug and play player than Vertere's more upscale range, such as the Magic Groove, Touraj has already been contacted about suggestions for upgrades, so it makes sense to help owners along this path to get the best value for their upgrade expenditure.

For more information, head to Vertere Acoustics.