Головки звукоснимателя — Excalibur Midnight Blue

The Excalibur Midnight Blue is an MC pickup with low output that went on sale in Germany in November 2025 at a suggested price of EUR 1,899. Excalibur cartridges are designed and developed by TAD-Audiovertrieb GmbH of Prien am Chiemsee in Bavaria and built in Japan, and the Midnight Blue was introduced as the newest member of the Excalibur series, opening a new chapter in the range with a housing material and colour not used on earlier models.

Key specs that matter

Output is 0.5 mV at 1 kHz, channel balance stays within 0.5 dB and channel separation is 25 dB at 1 kHz. Frequency response is given as 10 Hz to 40,000 Hz. The internal impedance measures 7.5 ohm, and the recommended load is above 100 ohm. Compliance is rated as medium at 10 x 10-6 cm/dyne, with a recommended tracking force of 2 g. The stylus is a natural diamond with a Microridge profile, the cantilever is boron, and the complete cartridge weighs 8.7 g.

Engineering and use context

Delrin forms the shell, the trade name for polyoxymethylene, also called POM or acetal. The maker chose it for its high strength and hardness, low friction and the ease with which it can be machined to tight tolerances, and the dark blue shell gives the model its name. Boron is used for the cantilever because it is very stiff for its weight, and the stylus movement reaches the coils with little flex along the way. The Microridge cut has a long, narrow contact line that touches a larger area of the groove wall than a simple elliptical tip, which lowers tracing distortion and spreads wear over a larger surface, extending stylus life. The magnetic system uses an Alnico magnet rather than neodymium or samarium cobalt. The suggested load is more than 13 times the coil resistance, which keeps the electrical damping of the coils light.

Pairing

At 0.5 mV the Midnight Blue belongs on an MC phono input or behind a step-up transformer, loaded as the maker specifies. With its body weight and a medium compliance rating, an arm of moderate effective mass is the natural match, and there is no need for an especially heavy headshell or extra counterweight. Tracking force should be set to the maker's figure before any fine adjustment.

Alternatives

The Excalibur Platinum is a lower-priced low-output MC with a boron cantilever, a nude MicroRidge diamond and a metallised body weighing 5.4 g.