Головки звукоснимателя — Clearaudio JUBILEE MC

Clearaudio in Erlangen built the Jubilee MC as its first low-output MC pickup whose housing is cut from Panzerholz. It was created as a reminder of 40 years of development and manufacturing in Erlangen, and its outline follows the V2.1 cartridge series. The current version is the Jubilee Panzerholz V2.1, the only Clearaudio moving coil design built around this material.

Key specs that matter

The complete system weighs 7.5 g and delivers 0.5 mV at 5 cm/s. Frequency range is quoted as 20 Hz to 20 kHz, channel separation as more than 32 dB and channel balance as better than 0.5 dB. Cartridge impedance is 50 ohm. A boron cantilever carries a diamond of the Clearaudio Prime Line cut, compliance is 15 µ/mN and tracking ability reaches 80 µm. The recommended downforce is 2.8 g with a tolerance of 0.2 g either way. Clearaudio grants two years of warranty once the completed card reaches the factory within 14 days of purchase.

Engineering and use context

Panzerholz is a German laminated wood product that is dense enough to sink in water and hard enough to be rated bullet-proof, yet it stays light enough for a pickup body. Clearaudio chose it for low resonance and low mass. Each housing is finished with a special lacquering and polishing process whose surface treatment borrows from the violin makers of neighbouring Bubenreuth. Inside sits a fully symmetrical V2 generator with both coils mirrored around the pivot point and wound from 24 carat gold wire. The body uses the twelve-finger platform familiar from other Clearaudio MC models, with tapped metal inserts that let the mounting screws grip the cartridge directly without loose nuts. The solid boron rod keeps the moving parts stiff while the diamond follows the groove.

Pairing

Such a low output from a low-impedance coil is too little for an ordinary MM input, so the Jubilee MC calls for a low-noise moving coil preamplifier with plenty of amplification, or for a transformer built to step up low-impedance generators. Its moderate mass and compliance suit medium-mass arms such as the carbon tubes Clearaudio fits to its own decks. The chosen arm also has to reach the full recommended downforce without running out of counterweight travel.

Alternatives

The Clearaudio Stradivari V2.1 is a 7.0 g moving coil model with an ebony body, a metal inlay and the same 0.5 mV output.