Головки звукоснимателя — Analog Relax EX700

The EX700 is a hand-assembled moving-coil phono cartridge from Analog Relax, a Japanese maker of handcrafted MC cartridges founded by Yasushi Yurugi, a record collector, saxophonist and jazz enthusiast. Released in Japan on 27 November 2025 under product code AR-MCC-EX700, it sits above the EX500 in the range and borrows technology from the top EX2000. Japanese pricing is JPY 979,000 including tax, the UK price is GBP 7,288 with VAT, while USD 13,500 is quoted for the US.

Key specs that matter

Rated output is 0.45 mV at 1 kHz, and internal impedance is 4.5 ohm. The recommended tracking force is 2.2 g. Channel separation reaches 27 dB or better at 1 kHz, with channel balance held within 0.5 dB at the same frequency. Compliance is given as 6 micrometres per millinewton at 100 Hz, a moderate figure. The stylus is a custom line-contact diamond profile carried on a solid boron cantilever, and the generator combines several neodymium magnets with coils wound from high-purity copper wire.

Engineering and use context

The housing of this model is shaped from spruce tonewood taken from the Forest of Fiemme in South Tyrol, Northern Italy. That region is known as a source of wood for violin making, and the forest is reported as the origin of timber used for Stradivarius instruments. Analog Relax then applies several thin coats of a classic oil varnish mixed from traditional ingredients, among them colophonium, a pine resin, and linseed oil, following the kind of recipe luthiers used in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The varnish is applied by hand, and each cartridge is assembled by Japanese craftsmen. Using an instrument wood for the housing sets the EX700 apart from the metal and resin bodies common among moving-coil designs, while the boron cantilever and line-contact tip follow the materials used higher in the Analog Relax catalogue.

Pairing

The low rated output places the EX700 among low-output moving-coil types, so the turntable should feed a phono preamplifier offering proper MC amplification, or an MM input preceded by a transformer designed for step-up duty. Such transformers should be chosen for low-impedance coils, and the moderate compliance calls for a tonearm of suitable mass.

Alternatives

The Analog Relax EX500 is the moving-coil model placed directly below the EX700 in the same range.