Miyabi Red Rose anyone heard ?


Has anyone heard this variant of Miyabi cartridge ? It was made by Takeda San for Red Rose (Mark Levinson) and supposedly one of the latest cartridge made by Takeda San. The specs of this cartridge is as follows:

Output voltage: .24 mv (1kHz)
Source impedance of coils: 4 ohms
Head amplifier: 1000 ohms
Recommended load impedance:
Step -up transformer: 4 ohms
Frequency response: 20Hz ~ 40 kHz +/- 1 dB
Channel separation: 25 dB @ 1 kHz +/- 1 dB
Cartridge mass: 13g
Compliance: 8.5 X 10 6 cm dyne
Recommended stylus pressure: 1.7 ~ 2.0g
Stylus design: 8 x 40ยต line contact
Magnet type: Alnico

From specs it looks very similar to the Miyabi Standard cartridge but how does it actually compare to the standard ? Anyone had the opportunity to audition this cart ?
pani
BTW, Syntax and Nandric, have you tried the Lyra Titan i or Skala ? How do they measure against Miyabi ?
Dear Pani, Syntax is a kind of my mentor.So for questions
about any cart whatever you should address him and for
only some carts me: Sony XL 88, 44l, Benz Ruby 3S, FR-7,
Phase Tech P-3G, Miyabi Standard (aka Krell MC100), Benz
LP S and Magic Diamond. The MM kinds are to many to name.
Dear pani: I owned what was now the legendary Myabi Ivory that in its times was very well regarded and very expensive too.

I heard the ML and the Red Rose ( are the same: M.Levinson founded Red Rose company after gone from ML/Madrigal and Cello where he was Collangello's partner. ).

That mr. Takeda prefered the standard means almost nothing to me because what likes to those japanese audiophiles normally only likes to them. Mr. takeda was an extraordinary cartridge designer but: is it an extraordinary universal audiophile too?

Never mind, you are listening to the Red Rose and after it's ready broken and before you buy another cartridge ( any ) IMHO you need to decide : how it compares in your Vector4 against what you already owned/own?, I can't remember if you still own the ZYX or Benz.

After that comparison then you can decide to buy another cartridge as the top ZYX or the Titan i that's more accurate than the Olympos.

I know you like rock' and roll. The XV-1s as the Delos or the Colibri are great on that kind of music as almost any top Clearaudio but for that kind of music it's a must to test a top MM/MI cartridge that are superb about.

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.
Hi Raul,
I agree that Japanese tastes are not universal, possibly because their homes and systems are very different from the rest of the world. However we should agree that many great products come from that country and it is because those Japanese engineers take this much more seriously than the rest of the world do. They are not exactly running after quick money. They rather dedicate their life to design something special and finally money follows.

Anyway, we are drifting. I have now about 25 hours on the Miyabi. It is changing continuously. At the moment here is what I hear:

Positive:
1. Tonal Neutrality - Thankfully here is one cartridge which is high resolution but doesnt mess up with the tones. Old school music sounds "old school" and newer recordings sound "new age". This may look trivial but to me it is not, because many modern cartridges (e.g ZYX) sound too modern.

2. Midrange Dynamics - The ability to surprise the listener even on very well known music by the virtue of clean dynamics is a strength of this Miyabi.

3. Decode Rhythms: This cartridge can unravel very complex rhythms in a very simple way. A crowd of instrument which previously was heard as a crowd now has a meaning because every individual instrument is not only separated spatially but also has different amplitude of loudness. That makes the purpose of those hidden instruments very clear.

Negative:
1. Previously I had a ZYX which presents a huge sound space almost enveloping the listener. Music is all over the room. That sense of space is somewhat missing in this Miyabi. The Miyabi has a very cut to cut soundstage, very focussed and neatly laid out.

2. I am also missing a little bit of warmth and bloom at the moment. The color saturation could have been a little more. I know I can get this by adding a tube gear to my all solid state system but I dont want to do anything so soon. I will let it burn in some more and see how it develops.

BTW, I sold the Vector tonearm within 2 weeks of purchase. My 47 Labs RS-A1 tonearm absolutely massacred the Vector. The Vector has a neat and clean sound but it is lifeless when compared to the 47 Labs tonearm. I know 47 Labs looks like a "not so serious" tonearm but please give it a try someday I am 110% sure you will learn something new about your music.
Dear Pani: I owned the RS-A1 and you are right: it's better that what it looks but IMHO nothing more than that. The important subject is that it fufil your needs/priorities on music sound reproduction.

Nandric, for your post seems to me that you already listened to the MD and you rated at the top. Is really that good?, for what I heard through my Spectral cartridge and if my memory does not " falls " this Spectral beats the MD but maybe I need to hear this one " today " in my system.
Anyway, good that your MD is running in your system.

regards and enjoy the music,
R.