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Thread: Ex-Dem Miyajima Cartridges

  1. #1
    Join Date: Jan 2009

    Location: Norwich

    Posts: 2,814
    I'm Hugo.

    Default Ex-Dem Miyajima Cartridges

    I have the following Ex-Dem Miyajima cartridges available:

    Miyajima Zero Mono B (0.7 mil tip)
    , presently with just 67 sides of play on the clicker - £1205 including VAT and Uk delivery (retail price is £1375). I am in awe of this cartridge which is, in its limited-to-mono way, probably the finest cartridge that money can buy. It's that good and to hear well recorded old mono records with the Zero is an astonishing experience. Truly lovely stuff.

    Miyajima Kansui Stereo - nicely run in by the last customer to try it with approximately 100 hours of play - £2495 including VAT and UK delivery (retail price is £3200)

    Please call, PM or e-mail to enquire or discuss.

    Hugo

  2. #2
    Join Date: Dec 2015

    Location: Alicante. Spain.

    Posts: 1,885
    I'm Adrian.

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    I was lucky enough to have the Kansui on my deck for a couple of weeks, and to compare it to my Shilabe many thanks to Hugo - top bloke. There's a very good reason some reviewers believe the Miyajimas to be the best carts available, regardless of price. But I guess they hold the same goal as myself - emotional engagement.

    Both carts share the same house sound. Big bodied, palpable imagery that is difficult to describe in any other way than visceral. A few other MC carts have this but it tends to be an effect of and limited to the lower registers, with a less dense, less fleshy midrange or treble. The Miyajimas have it from bottom to top, adding density to each note as well as to the air around them. But don't think this equates to a thick top end - it doesn't. The treble is wonderfully detailed and extended, but also has a silky, effortlessness and palpability that makes percussion a joy to hear.

    The Miyajimas don't retrieve the nth degree of detail, my Allaerts gives me more insight and resolution, but listening to either the Kansui or Shilabe is such a pleasure I've never given a thought to that lost final decay of a tambourine or another detail from out there at the back of the soundstage. They offer emotional engagement in a way that my Allaerts doesn't - no matter how beautiful it sounds. And for me that's the point of listening to music.

    So is there a difference between the two carts? Yes, but it's very subtle. Both carts have phenomenal bass, truly phenomenal but the Kansui is maybe more transparent here than its brother. The Kansui perhaps spotlights the upper mid a little more, adding a slightly lighter gloss to strings for example. And that's it. Resolution, soundstage, palpability etc are the same - fantastic.

    Anyhow, right now the Shilabe is still on the arm and the Allaerts in its box enjoying an extended break.

    My gratitude to Hugo for allowing me to listen to the Kansui.
    Technics SP10 mk2
    Jan Allaerts MC 1 Boron mk1 cart
    Miyajima Shilabe cart
    Hashimoto HM-X SUT
    Siggwan (gimballed not unipivot) Cocobola 12"
    Aurorasound Vida LCR Phonostage
    The Truth linestage
    Dave Slagle Autoformer Volume Controller
    Cary 805c SET amps
    Audio Note ANe-SPX speakers
    Townshend Isolda speaker cables
    Cardas Golden Presence interconnects

  3. #3
    Join Date: Jan 2009

    Location: Norwich

    Posts: 2,814
    I'm Hugo.

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    Thanks Adey for this very insightful summary of what Miyajima cartridges are all about - musical engagement.

  4. #4
    Join Date: Dec 2015

    Location: Alicante. Spain.

    Posts: 1,885
    I'm Adrian.

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    It's been an illuminating experience listening to them Hugo. Listening last night I put my finger on what makes them so special - presence. They don't so much put the players into your living room as transport you to the venue and plonk you right down in the middle of it. It's an amazing ability.
    Technics SP10 mk2
    Jan Allaerts MC 1 Boron mk1 cart
    Miyajima Shilabe cart
    Hashimoto HM-X SUT
    Siggwan (gimballed not unipivot) Cocobola 12"
    Aurorasound Vida LCR Phonostage
    The Truth linestage
    Dave Slagle Autoformer Volume Controller
    Cary 805c SET amps
    Audio Note ANe-SPX speakers
    Townshend Isolda speaker cables
    Cardas Golden Presence interconnects

  5. #5
    Join Date: Nov 2008

    Location: belgrade serbia

    Posts: 840
    I'm gordan.

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    Quote Originally Posted by farflungstar View Post

    Both carts share the same house sound. Big bodied, palpable imagery that is difficult to describe in any other way than visceral. A few other MC carts have this but it tends to be an effect of and limited to the lower registers, with a less dense, less fleshy midrange or treble. The Miyajimas have it from bottom to top, adding density to each note as well as to the air around them. But don't think this equates to a thick top end - it doesn't. The treble is wonderfully detailed and extended, but also has a silky, effortlessness and palpability that makes percussion a joy to hear.

    The Miyajimas don't retrieve the nth degree of detail, my Allaerts gives me more insight and resolution, but listening to either the Kansui or Shilabe is such a pleasure I've never given a thought to that lost final decay of a tambourine or another detail from out there at the back of the soundstage. They offer emotional engagement in a way that my Allaerts doesn't - no matter how beautiful it sounds. And for me that's the point of listening to music.
    Quite obviously Miyajimas are tuned to sound like that, mellow and smooth. For example there are more sophisticated cantilever/stylus combinations out there, especially the cantilever options since Shilabe uses a quite big aluminium tube with thin walls. I think this is deliberately done to control the energy/resonances and smoothen the sound. At the moment there are retippers who recommends puting boron or better materials than alu, like Thomas Schick, claiming it brings more transients and dynamics to the performance. How it affects the other qualities Miyajimas have I have no clue, but I am tempted to give it a try, especially given the prices of servicing with the original manufacturer. I did the same with Koetsu Black, opting for a better cantilever/stylus than the original one and I've never looked back. But for sure, this can not be done by any of generic, universal retippers, this has to be performed by someone who knows the original sound very well and how you are affecting it.
    Gordan.
    Speakers: Oris Swing MkII
    Amps: Thomas Mayer 300b/ Hiraga La Maison de L'Audiophile 20
    Preamp: Silver AVC by eng. Ferenc Lazar
    Phono Preamp: Shishido LCR by Solaja Audio
    Decks: Garrard 301 Martin Bastin reworked/plinthed with Fidelity Research FR64fx
    Garrard 401 in eng Ferenc Lazar solid wenge plinth with SME 3012/2
    Cartridges: SPU Spirit/ Koetsu Black revisited by eng. Salai/ Miyajima Shilabe
    Step Up Transformers: Tango MCT 999/ Ortofon T-5000/ Lumiere SUT
    Digital: Shigaclone by eng. Ferenc Lazar with Lampizator Amber II
    Wires: of sufficient length

  6. #6
    Join Date: Jan 2009

    Location: Norwich

    Posts: 2,814
    I'm Hugo.

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    That is a very interesting prospect and clearly the end result would not be like an original Miyajima but I don't think that such a modification is sacriligeous; indeed I'd very much like to hear the result!

    What my and Adey's experience does show is that Mr Miyajima does know what he's doing when it comes to specifying what some people might consider rather old-fashioned materials. Something like a solid boron or sapphire cantilever is not necessarily better than an alloy tube, just stiffer and with potentially much stronger resonance characteristics, which might not be the best compromise. Whenever I hear a coventionally 'modern' MC cartridge I am immediately struck by what appears to be a more extended frequency range and much more explicit detail; however go back to the Miyajima and all the detail is there, in blissful and undistorted purity. Yes, the overall 'sound' is perhaps a touch softer, but as Adey says the Miyajimas do tend to take you to the performance, rather than flinging all the disparate elements at you, like conventional MC cartridges often do.

    It's ultimately all about the music!

  7. #7
    Join Date: Dec 2015

    Location: Alicante. Spain.

    Posts: 1,885
    I'm Adrian.

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    I'm a little surprised you think it could be improved dynamics wise and transient response wise. - mine is lightening fast and actually betters the allaerts Boron cantilever in this respect. Surface noise is also a plus - the silence between the tracks on Talk Talk Spirit of Eden bad me getting out of the chair to check the amps were still on. Deathly quiet.
    Technics SP10 mk2
    Jan Allaerts MC 1 Boron mk1 cart
    Miyajima Shilabe cart
    Hashimoto HM-X SUT
    Siggwan (gimballed not unipivot) Cocobola 12"
    Aurorasound Vida LCR Phonostage
    The Truth linestage
    Dave Slagle Autoformer Volume Controller
    Cary 805c SET amps
    Audio Note ANe-SPX speakers
    Townshend Isolda speaker cables
    Cardas Golden Presence interconnects

  8. #8
    Join Date: Jan 2009

    Location: Norwich

    Posts: 2,814
    I'm Hugo.

    Default

    I may have expressed myself badly! I'm not saying that Miyajimas can be improved in those respects, but rather other 'conventional' MC cartridges often have an 'artificially enhanced' character that, on initial acquaintance, comes across as being more 'exciting' but on further listening turns out to be false and tiring. Miyajima cartridges are musically truthful, detailed and eloquent, but most definitely not artificially enhanced and therein lies their appeal. It's easiest to understand what Miyajima cartridges do with the music when experiencing them for oneself, hence my Miyajima home dem scheme which also includes Miyajima SUTs.

    AoS discounts most definitely apply to the Miyajima range - just ask!

  9. #9
    Join Date: Sep 2010

    Location: Nr Ashbourne, East Midlands, UK

    Posts: 109
    I'm Mike.

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    Not convinced that you could easily re-tip or change the cantilever on one of these.
    From my experience (of ruining my Kansui) they are very delicate and given Miyajima couldn't reset the cantilever and mine was a write off..
    Im guessing they would be difficult if not impossible for anyone (else) to service...
    StSt Motus DQ + SME 312 'MB Special'
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  10. #10
    montesquieu Guest

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Adams View Post
    Not convinced that you could easily re-tip or change the cantilever on one of these.
    From my experience (of ruining my Kansui) they are very delicate and given Miyajima couldn't reset the cantilever and mine was a write off..
    Im guessing they would be difficult if not impossible for anyone (else) to service...
    I've actually sent my Miyajima Premium 78 off to Cala Mighty Sound in France for just such a cantilever job, on the recommendation of Gordan and of Thomas Schick. Thomas swears by these people as able to 'improve' on Miyajima's design - the fact is they are also the only place to go with experience of the retipping the Miyajimas.

    I'm having a 1.0mil tip fitted which is currently the 'gap' in my Miyajima collection, the tip will still be spherical but I'm trying out Cala's recommended Boron cantilever. I'm not sure I would have done this with my Zero or any of the stereo ones I've owned (Shilabe, Kansui and currently Madake) but the 78 didn't owe me much (got it off ebay.fr), was rarely used (I have a nice set of different sized '78' tips from Expert Sound for my Shure M44 which I've resurrected in its place) and the result will satisfy curiosity - I will be able to directly compare the 1.0 tipped version with my 0.7 tipped Zero (and also with my 1.0 tipped SPU Mono GM MkII) and report back.

    I had a chat to the Cala guys at Munich and they seem very serious in what they do. I'm looking forward to it. Since Miyajima essentially only offers a swap-for-new service rather than a re-tip (at considerable cost) these guys could turn out to be offering a long-term lifeline to Miyajima owners. Let's see!

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