It is my great pleasure to introduce two new cartridges in the Allnic product line: Amber and Rose. Allnic's Kang Su Park has spent over half his career experimenting with, innovating and introducing new moving coil cartridge designs; and the new Amber and Rose MC cartridges are the culmination of a final six-month, laboriously intensive, collaborative endeavor between Mr. Park and David Beetles of Hammertone Audio. As I followed their trials and tribulations - experiments with damper compounds, compliance, impedance, voltage output and resonance characteristics - my eager anticipation grew, knowing what passionate energy and extensive knowledge and expertise this project entailed. The outcome could only be fantastic, and the feedback about the Amber and Rose siblings from testers, and now purchasers, has exceeded my most optimistic expectations.
Where these two stand out from their predecessors is an increase in compliance for use with medium mass tonearms. This was achieved through a local Korean rubber supplier providing a unique compound not found from the usual world’s rubber suppliers, both supple enough to keep this blindingly fast cartridge in the groove and pliable enough to elevate the compliance. In addition, experiments with different materials treatments of the aluminum body have resulted in improved damping that enhances the relationships among all the elements of construction.
At the professional level of every sport, peak performance capabilities of the star athletes are almost the same. This pair of siblings is no different. Each demonstrates its own strengths, but both exhibit a degree of unparalleled excellence in their respective playing fields. The dual magnet design common to both these cartridges emulates the LP cutting lathe’s cutter head providing outstanding signal separation, air, and delicate nuances. The sound of the Amber is deep, spacious, layered with organic weight, and life-size with great energy demonstrated through timing and rhythm. Dynamics and bass resolution are to envy for any manufacturer. The Fritz Gyger stylus and Boron cantilever combine to reduce record groove noise and provide excellent tracking.
The Rose has an Aluminum cantilever and a different cartridge body treatment, with similar sonic qualities as the Amber maintaining great pace and rhythm while providing slightly less upper-end energy, overall warmer presentation, and accelerated dynamics -- proving to be a favorite among those passionate about classical music.
The Rose offers lovely resolution, texture, and a correct sense of space. Very quiet in the grove. For systems on the slightly aggressive or thin side, this is the perfect source that possesses strengths the Amber does not have.
You will definitely want to hear the Olympic-level performances of these two new “track stars” from Allnic’s analog audio master, KS Park!
Months after their release, the star sisters of 2020, Amber and Rose, continue to sing with welcoming praise and interesting trades: Airtight Supreme, Lyra Titan, Dynavector XV1S, and Ikeda, to name a few. The price to greater than expected performance makes these twins a pleasant surprise. Simply stated, "the Amber just made everything better." This value is further emphasized when paired with the final production run of the H-1202! Only 11 left and at special pricing is the most popular sale item.
The Amber Cartridge
First, every LP record master is engraved using an LP cutting lathe’s cutter head. The Amber and Rose moving coil (MC) cartridges are designed to reproduce music via a mechanism that emulates the LP cutting lathe’s cutter head, of course, however, with a diamond stylus that tracks the record grooves’ faces, rather than with a diamond chisel for cutting the grooves into the vinyl.
Second, the Amber and Rose have two separate hollow polycarbonate bobbins, as opposed to one bobbin designed as an iron square or cross-block.
Third, iron is about nine times heavier than polycarbonate, so a conventional iron bobbin reacts with far less agility to the musical grooves of a vinyl record than one made of hollow polycarbonate.
Fourth, as a cantilever moves along the vinyl’s grooves, it needs a pivot. Conventional MC cartridges’ coils are located near the pivot because of their heavy moving mass. Because of its lighter moving mass, relative to conventional MC cartridges, the Allnic Amber and Rose’s coils are nearer to the diamond stylus. The result for the Amber and Rose is increased coil vibration capability and, therefore, more detailed audio reproduction.
The Amber and Rose also feature:
• A new rubber damper developed by Allnic
• New CCA (Copper Clad Aluminum) dual coils
• Fritz Gyger S stylus
• Amber: Solid boron cantilever (Rose: Aluminum)
• Zinc mounting plate
• Weight of 11 grams
Experience indicates that the Amber and Rose will continually improve over a minimum of forty (40) hours of playing time, reaching a level of performance well beyond their initial ones and, we believe, well beyond that of most MC phono cartridges.