Головки звукоснимателя — Clearaudio CONCEPT MC SIGNATURE

The Concept MC Signature is a moving-coil pickup made by the German analogue firm Clearaudio. It is the selected version of the regular Concept MC and shares that model's generator, body and stylus, while Clearaudio quotes tighter tolerances for balance and separation between the two channels. It weighs 8.0 g in total, and Clearaudio backs it with a two-year warranty on the complete unit, provided the warranty card is returned within 14 days of purchase.

Key specs that matter

A Micro Line stylus is carried on a boron cantilever, with coil windings of OFC copper. Output is 0.4 mV at 5 cm/s, internal impedance is 11 ohm, and response spans 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Channel separation is better than 30 dB at 1 kHz and channel balance stays within 0.3 dB. Compliance is 9 µm/mN, the recommended tracking force is 2.2 g (tolerance 0.2 g either way), and tracking ability is given as 80 µm.

Engineering and use context

Clearaudio machines the body from a high-density aluminium-magnesium alloy and then finishes it with a ceramic surface layer, a combination Clearaudio uses to keep resonances in the housing low. The body of the Signature version is black. Because the Signature and the standard Concept MC share every mechanical and electrical parameter except the two channel figures, the Signature label marks samples picked for closer matching of the left and right generator halves rather than a different design. The Micro Line tip is a fine line-contact profile that follows the groove walls over a narrow contact area. The moderate compliance together with the light body places the cartridge in the range for medium-mass tonearms.

Pairing

With 0.4 mV of output the Concept MC Signature needs a phono stage with a dedicated moving-coil input or an MM stage fed through a step-up transformer, as an ordinary moving-magnet input does not provide enough gain for this level. The low 11 ohm internal impedance means the cartridge works into a wide spread of MC load settings, and a stage with selectable resistive loading lets the owner pick the value that matches the arm and system. Clearaudio, based in Erlangen, also builds a Concept turntable, so the cartridge can sit in a front end made entirely by one company.

Alternatives

The Clearaudio Concept MC is the regular edition of this pickup, with identical output, stylus and body but rated at under 0.5 dB channel balance and more than 28 dB separation.