Головки звукоснимателя — Kensington Audio C-500

The C-500 is the entry model among five MC models from Kensington Audio, a UK marque in the Talk Electronics stable, a group with over 25 years of design and manufacturing history in UK hi-fi. Each Kensington cartridge is hand-assembled in the United Kingdom by musicians, and the range was unveiled in Ascot at UK Hi-Fi Show Live on 27 and 28 September 2025. The C-500 is priced at GBP 599.95 and pairs an elliptical stylus with an aluminium cantilever.

Key specs that matter

Rated output is 0.5 mV at 1 kHz and 5 cm per second. Kensington quotes a frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz within 2 dB, channel separation above 30 dB and channel balance better than 1 dB. The coils have an internal impedance of 5 ohm, and the maker recommends a load impedance of 100 ohm. Dynamic compliance is given as 15 to 20 cu, tracking force as 1.3 to 1.5 grams, and the vertical tracking angle as 20 degrees. The body weighs 10 grams.

Engineering and use context

Winding wire for the coils is 4N OCC, an ultra-pure oxygen-free copper that Kensington also uses in the C-600 and C-700. What separates the C-500 from those two models is the cantilever, which here is aluminium rather than boron, and a lower price. In the company's price ladder the C-600 costs GBP 849.95, the C-700 GBP 1,499.95, the C-800 with a ruby cantilever GBP 1,999.95 and the C-900 with a sapphire cantilever and 30 kHz response GBP 2,999.95. The cartridges are sold directly by Kensington, and the company is seeking international distribution partners. Kensington describes its approach as musician-led, and names minimal distortion as a design aim for the C-500. Owners can register the cartridge with the company, which also offers warranty and repair services and a 30-Day Hire Scheme for trying a model before committing to it.

Pairing

As a low output moving coil design with a low coil impedance, the C-500 needs a phono stage with a moving coil setting or a step-up device, loaded as the maker recommends, and a tonearm that suits the stated tracking force and body mass.

Alternatives

The Kensington Audio C-600 is the next step up, keeping the elliptical stylus and 4N OCC coils but moving to a boron cantilever with response extended to 25 kHz.