This upgrade kit includes:
• (1) Nanomount Cartridge Disc to fit complex headshells and non-standard cartridges. Recommend for Kuzma & Stanton ST-150 headshells, Soundsmith cartridges, and other unique mountings.
• Better-sounding brass hardware assortment to fit any cartridge
Design Overview
The Complete Nanomount System consists of: 1) a thin mylar disc you simply place on top of your cartridge before mounting it; bonded to the disc are three (or four) tiny brass Nanomounts, each one machined with three micropoints on the bottom and one micropoint on top; 2) assorted brass cartridge mounting screws to fit any US or foreign cartridge (brass screws sound noticeably better than stainless, aluminum or nylon); and 3) four smaller mylar discs with two Nanomounts each to slip under your slightly loosened and raised tonearm base, which you then retighten. Item 3 is omitted for the Cartridge-Only version. Four Nanomounts are used for the version that fits slotted headshells with holes between the slots; there is no sonic advantage or disadvantage to using four instead of three.
Installing the Nanomount System yields a major upgrade in the sound of any cartridge and arm, significantly greater than doubling or tripling their cost. Here's why: the LP groove imparts energy and motion to the stylus and the useful part of that energy creates the music signal. The remainder vibrates the cartridge body and the arm, thereby inducing spurious music-muddying resonances. The more of that unwanted vibrational energy that is cleanly drained out of the cartridge and arm down into the turntable plinth, the clearer and punchier the music sounds. Seriously impeding that draining of energy are the flat contact area between cartridge and headshell and the even larger flat contact area between arm base and turntable plinth.
These low-pressure contact interfaces cause excessive reflection and distortion of energy, the energy that needs to be drained in order to let your beautifully designed cartridge and arm sound their best. Fortunately, our 20 years of vibration control experimentation points to a straightforward solution: use tiny points to couple the cartridge to the arm and the arm to the plinth, in effect subminiature versions of our highly effective Triplepoint brass footers.
The resulting high-pressure point contact ensures clean, distortion-free transfer of energy. After installation, you don't even have to adjust VTA. Just flip on your favorite LP and discover gorgeous details, crushing bass, crystal clear highs, razor sharp image focus, and dynamic swings you never suspected were in those grooves. To date, this is the most dramatically effective turntable upgrade Pierre Sprey has designed. If you are unsure of whether your cartridge or headshell or tone arm base configuration is suitable, simply call our technical advice line, 410 867-7543.
|