Головки звукоснимателя — HiFiction X-Qiusite ST

The X-quisite ST is an MC pickup cartridge made by HiFiction, the company of designer Micha Huber, who is also associated with the Thales and EMT brands. The name stands for silver and titanium, the coil wire and main body material that set it apart from the CA model in the same X-quisite line. Concept and materials research for the range took four years, and every cartridge is assembled by hand, calibrated personally by Huber and delivered in a walnut wooden box. In the UK it sells for GBP 10,450.

Key specs that matter

Output is a low 0.3 mV at 5 cm/s, from coils of pure 4N silver with an internal impedance of 2 x 20 ohm. The recommended load range is 400 to 800 ohm. Frequency response runs from 20 Hz to 30,000 Hz, channel separation is 35 dB or more in both directions, and channel balance is held to 0.1 dB. FIM distortion stays at 0.2% or less. The diamond carries a micro ridge profile, the vertical tracking angle is 20 degrees, and compliance is 12 um/mN. Tracking force should be set between 1.9 and 2.1 g, and the cartridge weighs 16.6 g.

Engineering and use context

The central idea is a patented monobloc ceramic transducer, in which the cantilever and the coil former are made as one ceramic piece rather than as separate parts glued together. The cantilever section is partly hollow with an octagonal cross-section, a shape chosen for very high rigidity at low mass, and removing the joint between cantilever and coil carrier takes away one possible source of mechanical loss. The magnet circuit combines neodymium with Armco iron, and the magnet sits in an aluminium holder. The outer body is a sandwich of titanium, aluminium and wood, milled from a solid block, with a wooden inlay forming the contact surface between the cartridge and the tonearm headshell. Across the X-quisite line the coils can be wound in high-purity copper or silver, and the ST uses the silver option.

Pairing

With its high mass and medium compliance, the ST suits medium to heavy tonearms that can take the extra mass and still land the arm and cartridge resonance in a safe region, so headshell weight and counterweight range should be checked before mounting. The low output calls for a moving-coil phono stage with plenty of gain or a step-up transformer, and an input that can be set within the recommended window gives the loading the maker specifies.

Alternatives

The X-quisite CA is the other moving-coil cartridge in the range, listed at GBP 7,500.