Allnic Audio Rose MC Cartridge
The new Allnic Audio Amber MC Cartridge ($4500) was recently reviewed very favorably by Audiophilia where it was also mentioned that Amber had an equally new twin sister, the focus of my review here: the Rose MC Cartridge which retails at the significantly lower price of $2900.
Although not an identical twin of Amber—for it comes in a beautiful rose-colored Duralumin 5052 housing (versus amber-colored) with the name ‘Rose’ written elegantly in white on its right side—it is identical looking otherwise, almost identical in construction and, like the Amber, is handbuilt by master Allnic Audio designer Kang Su Park. As I discovered and will elaborate on in this review, the Rose is a true bargain, handily performing above its price point, so beautiful to look at and very easy to install.
Many thanks to David Beetles of Hammertone Audio, Canadian distributor of Allnic Audio products, for getting the Rose cartridge to Audiophilia for this review, and for answering a variety of technical questions whenever I had them. The cart arrived in a box with a small elegant metal circular container holding it safely.
Before moving on I point out that Allnic Audio is based in South Korea, and in the name Allnic Audio, ‘Allnic’ stands for ‘all nickel’; the signal transformers in their amps and preamps are made with nickel alloy cores such as PC or PB permalloy.
Specifications
The only differences in construction between the Rose and the Amber are the diamond tip and stylus: Fritz Gyger S (Amber) versus Fritz Gyger 2 (Rose) diamond tip, and Solid Boron cantilever (Amber) versus Solid Aluminum cantilever (Rose). Otherwise, the specs are identical.
Coils: CCA (Copper Clad Aluminium) dual coils
Magnet: Neodymium 50
Output Voltage: 0.4mV
Impedance: 9 ohms
Compliance: 10 x 10-6 dyn/cm (100Hz)
Tracking Force: Suggested minimum 2.0 grams (+/-0.2 gram as a guide)
Channel Separation: above 30dB
Channel Balance: Within 0.1dB
Frequency Response: 20 Hz to 30 KHz
Weight: 11gm
Setting Up
My analog system for vinyl involves as reference: a VPI HW-40 Direct Drive Turntable with a built-in 12” Fatboy Gimbal tonearm, a Pass Labs XP-17 Phono Preamplifier, and a PS Audio BHK Preamplifier. My reference phono cartridge is a Grado Labs Aeon Phono Cartridge ($6000); the younger sibling of Grado’s highest level $12,000 Epoch, from which the Aeon borrowed much of its technology just as the Rose borrows from its highest level, the Amber. My current version of the Aeon is Aeon 3.
For the analog RCA cable between turntable and phono stage I used from among the top of the line of Audio Art, Waveform Fidelity and Anticables.
Many users will complain (and, I think rightly so) that the Rose and Amber do not have a protective stylus guard. When prices of a cart are this expensive, I think they should come with that. (Some of us have young kids, or cats, for example–besides our own clumsiness.)
In any case, I had dealt with this problem before when I reviewed a $12,000 Van den Hul cart (Colibri Master Signature) which had made me afraid to talk let alone sneeze while attempting to de-install or mount it; so, I was ready to go with the Rose without further ado.
It was a breeze: just 2 screws on the top needed to attach, and the standard four wires to plug in from the tonearm. For alignment, I used a VPI tonearm jig (1 grid) followed by an overhang turntable spindle (2 grids), which gave a 3/8th inch overhang, and I set the tracking force to 2.35 gm using a digital scale (I was told that initially I should set the force high; then experiment later by lowering). I had used the standard rule of thumb ‘set the VTA so that the arm/cart are parallel to the record when playing’ for starters. I set the Pass Labs loading impedance to 100 Ohms and the gain to 56db. (I dabbled with a higher 66db but that seemed too loud; my preamp offered ample extra gain). I use balanced cables into my amps.
I had records playing within 15 minutes. I checked out a number of tracks from several albums and detected nothing that was seriously amiss and needed immediate attention (for example, no skipping or major distortion occurred—and it was very quiet). But, it was different sounding than my reference cart as to be expected: changing phono cartridges is like changing speakers when it comes to their effect on sound; different, but not necessarily better or worse. I needed to give myself some time to become familiar with the Rose. And, of course, some burn-in is non-controversially important for such mechanical devices as a cartridge (or speakers for that matter); the Rose was brand new when I received it.
Listening and fine tuning
Weeks later, over time, upon some careful listening to a small number of LPs that I know well, I began tinkering with both tracking force and VTA to optimize what I wanted to hear; very easy to do with a VPI HW-40. The bass was already remarkable; lower pitched wind instruments, double bass and cello, and bass drums, for example, all sounded spot on, but I wanted a more accurate and larger sound stage, less of an edge at higher frequencies—and less sibilance. In the end, by raising the ATV a bit (via raising up slightly the back of the tonearm) and lowering the tracking force down to about 2.25 gms, I hit its sweet spot. The raising of the ATV, in fact, had been given as advice to me previously by Beetles who mentioned that KS Park suggested the same.
One very helpful album for sibilance I learned from when reviewing the van den Hul (the most sensitive to VTA and sibilance cart I have ever experienced), is track 1, `All Roads To The River’ from one of my very favorite albums: Janis Ian, Breaking Silence, Analogue Productions, 200 gm pressing (33rpm). I kept playing it over with slightly different VTA settings until the sibilance was minimized. This also minimized edginess.
For the soundstage I mainly used de Falla, The Three Cornered Hat, Ansermet, Decca (1961) SXL 2296. It was interesting how by changing the VTA, the voice of Teresa Berganza (Mezzo-Soprano) moved from near center/front to deep far back and a little to the left revealing aspects of the venue [Victoria Hall, Geneva—Ed] and a larger and impressive soundstage—I got what I wanted.
After that, I began enjoying whatever struck my fancy. I checked out Al Di Meola Project, Soaring Through a Dream, (1985) Manhattan Records. Dreamy, complex and ethereal with a very tasteful mix of both acoustic instruments (Ovation acoustic guitar, classical guitar, acoustic bass, piano, drums), and electronic instruments (Synclav guitar, Guild X-500-SB guitar, synthesizers and electric bass) with a pleasant, soft and quiet dose of vocals (Airto Moreira). The Rose illustrated its ability to render a superb soundstage, super low surface noise, and the handling of any kind of genre.
A special treat came from the new Series 5 release of Newvelle Records containing the jazz album Christreza by the Pablo Ablanedo Octet. A fine recording made very recently, it is so soothing and mysterious at the same time with even a slight but odd semblance of jazz rock fusion perhaps because of the occasional violin playing by Jenny Scheinman that reminded me of the Mahavishnu Orchestra from the 1970s. Track 1, ‘La Señal’, starts with primitive deep sounding drums resonating freely as they should. The Rose presented it beautifully and naturally, while visually the red color of the Rose together with the clear colored LP sitting directly on the shiny thick aluminum platter of the HW-40 were a striking match.
As a comparison to my reference in sound quality, the Grado Labs Aeon, I would summarize as: The Aeon exhibits more richness and fullness overall, and subtly reveals more natural textures in the timbre of instruments and is more even in its presentation of all frequencies from low to high. But then to be fair, the Aeon is $6000 versus $2900 for the Rose, and they really are very different in construction: The Aeon is a moving Iron, with a wood (exotic Cocobolo) housing, while the Rose is a MC with a Duralumin 5052 housing, and their cantilever/styli are also very different, among other things.
A Pleasant Surprise
One very pleasant surprise I discovered was how little movement the woofers of my reference speakers (Alta Audio FRM-2M) exhibited when using the Rose. I would say it was the least amount I have ever witnessed among all carts I have tried in my system. (And my phono stage does not have a subsonic filter option.)
Being exhausted one day, I fell asleep on the couch for only about 10-15 minutes after putting on an LP. Upon awakening, I felt a little disoriented so I did what I always do when at an audio show when I walk in an exhibitor’s room: I stared at the woofers; if they are moving then it is vinyl, if not then it is (with very high probability) digital. They did not appear to be moving. I, of course, remembered that I was indeed listening to vinyl and upon closer inspection revealed that they were moving but mildly so. Further experiments revealed that even old albums that were somewhat warped exhibited this nice behavior. Pretty impressive.
Summary
American poet Gertrude Stein famously introduced the phrase `A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose’ and variations thereof. I can’t claim to fully understand her intent/meaning, but I can say about the Allnic Audio Rose MC Cartridge: If a rose symbolizes love and romance, beauty and pleasure as embodied in the Olympian goddess Aphrodite, then they chose a most appropriate name. It is a beautiful looking cartridge, easy to install, and its presentation of bass together with the large soundstage it casts, regardless of genre of the music, are remarkable for a price of $2900. Highly recommended.
Further information: Allnic Audio
