Cartridges — Analog Relax EX1000

Analog Relax of Japan makes the EX1000, a stereo moving coil cartridge hand built by artisans in that country. Its body is carved from solid Yakusugi cedar about 2,000 years old, a rare wood that grows naturally above 500 metres on Yakushima Island, a World Natural Heritage site. Because the tree rings add only 1 to 2 mm a year, the grain is extremely tight. The body is finished with beeswax, which the maker says is used to maximise its resonance, and the wood develops a patina over time.

Key specs that matter

Analog Relax quotes an output of 0.65 mV at 1 kHz and an internal impedance of 8.8 ohm. Channel separation is 27 dB or more and channel balance is within 0.5 dB, both measured at 1 kHz. Compliance is 6 micrometres per millinewton at 100 Hz, and the recommended tracking force is 2.1 g. The cartridge weighs approximately 14 g.

Engineering and use context

At the tip is a Super Curve Line Contact Ver. 2 profile cut from pure diamond. It sits on a cantilever machined from ruby, a material chosen because it transmits vibration quickly from the groove to the generator. Coil wire is high purity 6N copper, and the magnet system uses neodymium magnets in a multi-magnet arrangement. The more expensive EX2000 shares the output and weight, while it moves to a Ver. 3 line contact stylus with multi-faceted cuts and an ultra-fine powder coated body. Analog Relax also makes the EX700, EX500 and EX300.

Pairing

Low compliance and a heavy body point to a tonearm of medium to high effective mass, which keeps the arm and cartridge resonance within the usual range. A low output moving coil generator of this kind needs plenty of gain, either from an MC phono input or from a transformer that raises the level for an MM stage. On lighter arms a heavier headshell or counterweight may be needed. The channel separation and balance figures give a reference point when checking azimuth and channel levels after mounting.

Alternatives

In the same Analog Relax range, the EX2000 is a moving coil model with a South Tyrol spruce body and a nude diamond cantilever.