A cartridge which proved impossible to criticise - very, very good!

A cartridge maker in the 21st century must feel like a (cart) wheelwright did in the early days of the 20th century: an endangered species. But those who build 'needles' have survived the transition into technical obsolescence remarkably well. There aren't many of them but there never were - just as there never were that many people prepared to spend a month's wages on a cartridge.

Jan Allaerts, the maker of this model, is a Belgian who started out repairing hi-fi in the late '70s but gradually became more and more of a cartridge specialist and eventually made the leap from mechanic to manufacturer. The process of looking at so many different examples of cartridge design enabled Jan to choose the best design elements and amalgamate them in his own creations.

He came to the conclusion that it's the details that count, even down to the molecular structure of materials - his cartridges features 'polar shoes' (magnetic pole pieces) which are hand carved so as not to upset their internal electrical potential. Jan also considers the housing to be highly important, choosing a box-shaped body shell made out a very soft grade of aluminium with an oxide coating. This is wrapped by a fine plate that is held on with miniature screws either side and internally plated with 24-carat gold, forming a Faraday cage to keep out RF noise. I was initially interested to know whether this shield could be removed to good effect as per Sumiko's Blue Point Special and other designs, but receiving the above information put paid to that idea and made me wonder if such 'nude' designs were being compromised in the process of shedding their cases.

A number of unusual practices go into creating the Allaerts 'gold block'. The coils which produce electrical output are made of wire that's too fine to be wound by machine, the three gramme breaking strain requiring a very steady hand to survive the process. While the cantilever suspension is designed to avoid the perishing that can affect some cartridges and which causes premature sound quality reduction. There are four cartridges in the range, with prices from £850 for the MC1 Eco (economy?) to £2,995 for the MC2 Finish. The differences are in materials and stylus type, the two top models using Geiger S tips while the Eco and Boron have Geiger Is. The MC1 Boron under scrutiny here features an Alnico magnet, copper/silver coil wire and a Boron/Sapphire cantilever. Priced at £1,295, it produces half a millivolt into a 100 Ohm load with tracking force of two grammes.

Sound quality

A needle is nothing without a turntable and arm to hold it in place over the vinyl, so the MC1B was duly mounted in the trusty SME Model 20A and its output connected to the Tom Evans Audio Groove phono stage, a combination that seemed to suit it nicely. It made a positive impression from the out, delivering alarming bass power alongside broad dynamic and tonal variety from The Aphex Twin's robust Windowlicker. Moving onto something more subtle, Shostakovich's String Quartet No 8 revealed the cartridge's ability to reveal timbre, string tone and presence which it did with considerable aplomb. With Ellington's Afro-Eurasian Eclipse it once again revealed a particularly powerful and tactile bottom end from both double bass and piano.

In an attempt to pin down its character I made a few comparisons with CD, which revealed a slight softness but better timing, different imaging and greater subtlety of tone. By comparison with the considerably dearer van den Hul Grasshopper III GLA cartridge, there was also a degree less bite, but the Allaerts compensated for this with relatively strong image depth.

I wouldn't say that the MC1B was a soft or mellow cartridge; however, I'm inclined to find it more neutral than most, and it's certainly more lively than an admittedly rather 'tired' Wilson benesch Carbon I tried. It has a very high degree of transparency, each record revealing a wealth of detail about its style and age of recording as well as the innermost nuances of the performance. The combination with The Groove extracted some hitherto unheard bass notes on familiar material, proving that there's still progress being made in the vinyl world even if the real world has gone digital.

Conclusion

This Allaerts cartridge proved impossible to criticise: either I'm losing my faculties (no comments please) or there aren't enough new cartridges getting reviewed these days. Or this is a very, very good cartridge. I imagine there are models that might equal it, but would be most surprised if there were any that could beat it at the price. If you're in the market for a serious needle, get on the waiting list now.


GT Audio (01895) 833099

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