Phasemation PP-500-500

[Rush2112]

As I'm in the throws of replacing my Koetsu Rosewood, I thought I would share my experience with the Phasemation PP-500 cartridge at £1,995 loaned from the very helpful Hugo at Ammonite Audio, Norwich.

I have posted elsewhere my reasons to change cartridge. My hope is to find something at around £2,000 that will be as satisfying as the Koetsu Rosewood and keep me within budget.

The Phasemation is beautifully presented in a wooden box complete with instructions etc, build quality is exemplary and a good quality well designed stylus guard is also provided.

This is a well run in demo cartridge so no run in was required. VTF is recommended at 1.9gms at which its tracking ability is excellent, as for Anti Skate, this is something where I start from the Frank Shroeder position, the SME V is not typical either, I have never had a cartridge where the VTF and Anti Skate values have been the same. The setting settled on was a touch over 1.15 on the dial. VTA is recommended as a level tonearm and I would agree with this but experimentation in your own arm is never a bad idea but in my SME V it was certainly my preference. Loading was recommended at 50ohms, I prefered it at 100ohms, giving the midrange a little more silkiness.

So how does it sound, well pretty damn good to be honest !

Bass is deep, tuneful and has authority never becoming over powering or "one note" but conveying suitable weight.

Midrange is very good the Koetsu is better, vocals have more inflection but this is a strength of Koetsu's but is it £500 better !

Treble is clean and extended with cymbals being detailed and shimmering appropriately.

Soundstage is wide, deep and high with muscians well located and defined. This is where the Koetsu has the distinct upper hand bettering it in every sense but not by a huge margin. Like the Koetsu, surface noise is very well handled by the Phasemation which is a blessing given the age of some of my vinyl.

So, is this the Koetsu's replacement, well very possibly, it's certainly a cartridge I could live with long term and there are many at much higher prices than the P500 that I couldn't live with!

My next auditions are Jasmine Audio TIger and Benz Micro LP-S. I know I have said my budget is £2,000 so where do I get off thinking the LP-S is within budget ! It isn't, however, I would push the budget to £3,000 for something that is significantly better than the Koetsu.

[Jimbo]

Nice little review there Mark and I will use this as a reference for potential future MC cartridge. At the moment I am considering a Dynavector XX2 MK2 but the Phasemation looks like it could be a contender?

[Rush2112]

Hi Jimbo,

Its certainly a great all rounder no weaknesses of note and very musical.

Not a brand I had come accross until recently but I have no hesitation recommending the PP500.

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[Jimbo]

Hi Jimbo,

Its certainly a great all rounder no weaknesses of note and very musical.

Not a brand I had come accross until recently but I have no hesitation recommending the PP500.

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I think you are the second person who has recommended this cartridge recently.

[Rush2112]

Jasmine Audio Turtle Moving Coil

I thought I would share my experience with this relatively unknown cartridge. Jasmine Audio founded in 2001 and based in China manufacture an extensive range of cartridges, tonearms, turntable, phono stages and accessories. East Riding based IOTA Audio Design are the UK importers for a selected range of thier products including: Two Moving Magnet £55-£85 cartridges, four Nature Series Moving Coils £375-£675, four Porcelain Series Moving Coils £1,195-£3,450, three 9inch tonearms including a Tangenital and two 12inch tonearms £675-£2,695. A serious range of products for vinyl lovers.
https://www.iota-audio-design.com

So on to the cartridge in question the Jasmine Audio Turtle, one of the Porcelain Series, with a retail price of £1,195.

The cantilever is aluminium and the stylus an elliptical diamond both sourced from Japan. Output is a healthy 0.38mv and the cartridge weighs 14.1gms which might challenge some tonearms.

Tracking weight was set at the recommended 1.8gms with loading at 100ohms and with a level tonearm.

The Turtle followed a lengthy audition of the Phasemation PP-500 and a longstanding familarty with the Koetsu Rosewood both considerably more expensive.

The Turtle is one of the best moving coil cartridges I have heard in a long while. It has a very open natural sound, firm tuneful bass with good definition detailed midrange and clear crisp treble with good soundstage depth and width and allthough not better than a PP-500 or Rosewood, both are significantly dearer, it should be on anyone's list with a budget of a £1,000 as it provides a level of performance significant higher than you would expect !

At the moment the PP-500 is for me a stand out product it makes playing any record a pleasure which is something that even the Koetsu Rosewood didn't quite do, there were odd discs which wouldn't make past side one. The Koetsu clearly betters the PP-500 in the midrange but not by much and yes it is has great bass and treble detail and a big well defined soundstage which with the best recordings can be totally enthralling. The PP-500, however, manages that rare feet of being totally involving and even when you wonder could something else offer that bit more detail that bit bigger soundstage etc., and even if it does, will it be at the detriment to just enjoying the music .

My final dilemma is do I go for the next one in the Jasmine range, the Tiger, a cartridge considered by many as the equal of a Urushi and even a Coralstone and noted for its musicality ? Based on my experience with the Turtle I have no reason to doubt that will be the case. Watch this space !

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[Lawrence001]

I'm glad to see Iota are still going, I had a two box headphone amp of theirs a few years ago it was a lovely thing.

[Rush2112]

Well, I have given the Jasmine Audio Turtle plenty of challenging discs as well as many favourites too.

Overall at around £1,000 this has to be one of the best cartridges at its price point with levels of performance in some areas as good as anything twice the price.

So a star buy at £1,000, hell yes, better than the best at £2,000, well no, but more than capable of showing some of what the best at that price can do, particularly in the lower frequency and tracking ability.

So where am I ? Well I have to say the decision was made for me !

So what was considered ?

Well the promise of great things from the Jasmine Audio TIger remains just that, as there isn't one available to hear at this time, however, when there is, it will be undoubtedly be a definite audition. As for the Benz Micro LP-S, I have no doubt from the reviews and testimonials it is an outstanding cartridge in the £3,000 plus price point and no doubt a contender against cartridges at £4,000 and above including the Koetsu Rosewood Signature and possibly even the Urushi.

However, I set out to see, if at a budget of around £2,000, I could find a cartridge capable of equaling the Koetsu Rosewood. With the caveat if things were not looking good and something at around £3,000 blew me away I would bust the budget !

Well the decision has been made rather easy in reality.

The Phasemation PP-500 is an outstanding cartridge and one of the products that truly demonstrates the addeage that "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts", I found my self playing both sides of an album and playing disc after disc after disc. Something I haven't done for a very long time!

So if you want the details on the sonic attributes of the PP-500 then the review below totally echoes my experience and I didn't find this review until after I had auditioned the cartridge but I could so easily have written every line.

https://positive-feedback.com/review...oil-cartridge/

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