The Mutech RM Kanda Hyabusa

I don’t know which Transfiguration cartridge this might be comparable to, but the very low internal resistance with the relatively high output (although still in the low output category) reminds me of another Japanese cartridge that has been on the market for a few years. The company name or the cartridge model name begins with "H", I think, and is not "Hana". The one I have in mind has an internal resistance around 1 ohm and an output of about 0.3 to 0.4mV. It got good reviews but is rather faded from the scene these days. I’m searching for the identity but no luck so far.

Edit: Found it! The Haniwa HCTR-01. This cartridge has rather astounding specs: If I am reading the specs correctly, internal resistance is 0.4 ohms and inductance is 0.3uH (micro-henry). The inductance is 30 to 100 times LESS than a typical LOMC cartridge, which is in turn about 1000X lower than a typical MM cartridge. The Haniwa website does not state the signal output voltage, I think because the cartridge is designed to drive a current-mode phono stage, specifically their own product, the Haniwa HEQA03, which presents an 0.25 ohm phono input impedance!!! Now I realize the Haniwa is totally unique, probably not related to the cartridge you want to discuss. Sorry.For anyone who is interested, here is the web page: https://haniwaaudio.com/products/analog-front-end-system/

The Mutech, like the aforementioned Haniwa cartridge, ought to be auditioned using a current-driven phono stage. I bet the results would be staggering with a good example of that type of phono circuit.  Fremer used the BMC MCCI when he reviewed the Haniwa in 2014.  He liked it better than the Haniwa phono stage, using their cartridge.

Absolutely Lewm perhaps the Channel D Lino C. I lust after the L20. Any cartridge less than 25 ohms can be use with a current mode phono stage. The lower the better. Fortunately this includes the Lyra cartridges, Air Tights, My Sonic Labs and many Ortofons.  Clearaudio cartridges need not apply. 

Did you check out the Haniwa turntable?  The tonearm is a non starter for me. I am of the school that says the platter and tone arm need to be rigidly connected on a stiff subassembly and the tonearm can only allow the cartridge two degrees of freedom. 

The current drive depends not only on the internal resistance of the cartridge but also on the input impedance of the phono stage. If you investigate, the phono stages said to be of that type actually have quite a wide range of input impedances among them. So, if your cartridge has a 10 ohm internal impedance and your phono stage has an input Impedance of 10 ohms or greater, then the drive will tend toward voltage rather than current. It’s really tricky to figure this out. You need to know for sure the specifications of each component for good matching. Also as a result, if you have a very low internal resistance cartridge like the Haniwa or the mutek , and you use a phono stage with a 10 or 12 ohm input impedance, which is quite common for so-called current drive phono stages, then that cartridge will be driving that phono stage in voltage mode mostly. This is not to say that a combination like that would not sound good. It might sound great.

Channel D does not list an input impedance for the L20 only that as long as the cartridge has on impedance less than 25 ohms it will function well in current mode. The L20 also has  voltage mode and MM inputs. It is the quietest phono stage made and it also costs $43,000. The Lino is $2000 some odd dollars and does most of what the L20 does but it is not as quiet. It is however in there with the higher echelon.