Miyajima

WHILE NOT YET A HOUSE HOLD NAME , MIYAJIMA CARTRIDGES ARE FAST BECOMING THE GOLDILOCKS PHONO CARTRIDGES FOR THOSE IN THE KNOW.

NOT TOO DRY. NOT TO SOFT . JUST RIGHT!

AND THAT IS THE THING ABOUT THEM. SOME CARTRIDGES HAVE LOADS OF AIR AND INTENSE DETAIL WITH LITTLE OR NO HARMONIC RICHNESS. OTHERS ERR WAY TOO FAR ON THE ROMANTIC SIDE WITH OVERBLOWN LOWER MIDRANGE AND LITTLE FINESSE.

MIYAJIMAS JUST SOUND RIGHT.COHERENT LAYERS UPON LAYERS OF MUSIC ALL IN THE CORRECT PROPORTIONS OF SIZE AND FREQUENCY BALANCE.

TAKE THE MADAKE, MIYAJIMA'S best Known cartridge:

Like all Miyajima cartridges it uses their unique patented cross ring method of construction which insures that the maximum amount of recorded information is transmitted from the the groove through the stylus and coils to the phono stage. Employing a long Shibata stylus The Madake extracts the last bit of info from the record and tracks like a charm. MIYAJIMA used Japanese bamboo (madake) for THE CANTILEVER OF ITS new cartridge.The same

special madake Thomas Edison used for the filament of the electric bulb in old days.

This special madake is produced onlyin the mountains of Kyoto, Japan.

Thomas Edison chose this highest quality madake from 1,200 kinds of bamboo tested from all over the world. This madake has great tensile strength derived from growing in soil rich with iron content. which made it the perfect non metallic material to be used for their flagship cartridge.

Miyajma had to negotiate with Iwashimizu Hachiman-gu Shrine of the mountain of Kyoto for permission to harvest it. In recognition of their mutual veneration of Edison's genius that permission was granted. It is otherwise unobtainable.

Newest to Miyajima are the two Saboten cartridges the standard and the low compliance L. Botha are stunning performers and re introduce the Cactus Cantilever but the real Heart breaker is the Low compliance Saboten L of which Art Dudley observed:

“In a nutshell, this beautiful-sounding product embodies everything that's special about this brand. When it comes to the performance characteristics that matter most to me, I don't believe I've heard another standard-mount cartridge as effective as Miyajima Laboratory's Saboten L.”

Stereophile Magazine

May 22, 2018

The splendor of Kansui

Balance, stillness, etc... is fully revealed

When you listen to a magnificent orchestra, Detailed and melifluous it has most of the finesse which characterize the Saboten L and the Madake with only slightly less resolving power and inner detail.