Analog Relax – EX2000 Phono Cartridge
Our price:£15,000.00
What HFL Thinks
EX2000 MC – Analog Relax was founded by Yasushi Yurugi, an avid record collector, musician, jazz fan and innovative cartridge designer. A keen saxophonist, Yurugi has a deep appreciation of that sax maestro, jazz legend Zoot Sims, so much so that he founded the Zoot Sims Fan Club. That kind of musical obsession made him want more, knowing the vinyl groove contained yet more heart and soul to be revealed. “I never doubt that records have the best sound quality for listening to music, and I live with a collection of several thousand records and eight turntables.” This inspired him to create moving-coil cartridges which would exceed the capabilities of those available – a challenge he could not resist.
EX2000 MC – Transducer MC Stereo Phono Cartridge
Character defined by the finest ‘spruce’ from the South Tyrol region of Northern Italy is imbued in the Analog Relax EX2000. This storied region is where the material for the legendary Stradivarius stringed instruments is said to have been harvested. The EX2000 thus honours the greatest luthier of all time. Its surface is coated with an ultra-fine powder allowing it to reproduce natural sound. A precision-machined solid diamond cantilever is used to transmit seamlessly the movement established in the record’s grooves to the power generator, extracting high-resolution sound. Compared to other diamond cartridges, the cantilever in EX2000 has been cut slightly thicker to achieve more solidity in the sound with the added benefit of improved traceability at a higher level.
We are pleased to announce the release of our flagship model ‘Analog Relax EX2000 Phono Cartridge’ which features a diamond cantilever. The EX2000 uses the finest ‘spruce’ from the South Tyrol region of Northern Italy, where the material for the ‘Stradivarius’ is said to have been harvested. Its surface is coated with an ultra-fine powder allowing it to reproduce the natural sound.
The finest spruce harvested from the same forest as “Stradivarius”
We use the finest “spruce” for the body shell that is harvested in the northern Italian South Tyrol region and used as the top wood for violins.
The northern Italian South Tyrol region is said to be the forest area where materials for the renowned “Stradivarius” were harvested. We carefully select and cultivate the highest quality spruce from this area, and it undergoes rigorous management during the drying process.
Proprietary developed an ultra-fine ‘powder coating’ has been applied to the surface of the body to give it a subtle roughness, resulting in a sound that has a more natural quality.
Magnified view of powder coated surface
A precision-machined “diamond” cantilever
A precision-machined “diamond” cantilever is used to seamlessly transmit the movement of the record’s grooves to the power generator, bringing out high-resolution sound. In addition, compared to diamond cantilever models of other manufacturers, by cutting out the diamond cantilever slightly thicker, we have achieved a more solid sound and improved traceability at a higher level.
Evolved version of custom-developed SC stylus Ver.3
The stylus is the ‘Ver. 3’ model, which is a further evolution of the well-received ‘SC stylus’ used for the EX1000. Of course, the stylus is custom-developed by Analog Relax. Although it basically has a line contact shape, a number of multi-faceted cuts are applied vertically, allowing it to reproduce sound with almost no ‘inner distortion’. In addition, the front and back of the stylus tip are cut with different curvatures, making it difficult to pick up the “crackling noise” peculiar to original records and old pressed records, enabling playback with a very high signal to noise ratio.
Cartridges with a diamond cantilever typically ‘pick up lots of information but with a tense and edgy sound’ which prevents the listener to enjoy the record. The EX2000 was completed by utilizing advanced assembly techniques to achieve a sound that has depth, range, and substance, while remaining the full amount of the groove information.
- Product name & number：Analog Relax EX2000 AR-MCC-EX2000
- Transducer：MC Stereo Phono Cartridge
- Output voltage：0.4mv (1kHz)
- Impedance：8Ω
- Stylus：SC Stylus Ver.3 Special custom order made solid diamond
- Cantilever：Special nude diamond
- Coil material：High Purity 6N copper
- Body：Finest ‘spruce’ from the South Tyrol region of Northern Italy
- Ultra-fine ‘powder coating’
- Magnet：Multiple neodymium magnet
- Weight：about 9.0g
- All products are made by artisans within Japan.
- The solid wood body is made with natural materials, there will be differences in color, grain, weight, etc. between products.
- The body color of the grains will change with age.