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.

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.

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.

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.