MoFi Electronics Studio Silver MC Perfect MasterDeck Companion Cartridge

One down from the top of the Mofi cartridge line

Obviously, MoFi Electronics has not gone into the cartridge making business, though it does manufacture its own turntables and phono preamp. The lineup of three cartridges appears to be manufactured per Allen Perkins' order by Audio-Technica, which has of late been doing this for a number of American companies.

The $999 StudioSilver is the middle of the three cartridge line, with the MasterTracker MM below and the $1495 UltraGold MC above. A value-packed cartridge parts-wise and sonically, the StudioSilver features a nude MicroLinear stylus profile and a boron cantilever. The stylus shape is most likely Audio-Technica's Microline™ but used here it probably can't grab the trademarked name. The body is aluminum, the coils are of Ohno Continuous Casting copper (PCOCC) and the magnet is Neodymium, with a Permendur (cobalt-iron soft ferromagnetic alloy) yoke. Those are high quality parts for $1000.

The boron/microLinear combo is a major detail-grabber and a superb tracker, mated to the MasterDeck's arm. It sailed through all trackability bands on the Ortofon test record tracking at 2.0 grams.

Sonically, if you like rich and warm, this isn't for you. If you like bright and spotlit, this isn't for you either. Rather, the StudioSilver is a timbrally well-balanced, honest sounding, impressively transparent detail-producing transducer that is somewhat on the dry side. it mates well with a vacuum-tube or hybrid phono preamp. Then again, if you have a rich, warm sounding British loudspeaker and wish to wake it up a bit towards more defined transients and some "zip" and "pop", this cartridge will deliver that without offending your softer side sensibilities.

If the previous paragraph offended you, tell your friends! Bottom end extension is very good and well-controlled and the cartridge's macro and micro dynamic presentation impressed, especially given the price. There's sufficient slam to satisfy even playing back on a full dynamic range loudspeaker. Channel separation and balance on this sample were equally good, helping to produce a big, well-balanced soundstage with satisfying image specificity and stage depth.

Really, this cartridge does absolutely nothing wrong and a great deal right, though the detail and transparency come at the expense of timbral richness—a worthwhile trade-off for $1000 IMO.

I've played Patrick Leonard's upcoming It All Comes Down to Mood probably fifty times now ( I helped produce the vinyl edition, so I've listened to lacquers and test pressings and the final pressing as well). This is a sonic spectacular you will soon be reading much more about. Tony Levin plays bass. Martin Barre and Ian Anderson contribute among many others plus of course Patrick, who co-produced Amused to Death.

There's maximum slam and bottom end extension on this double record set cut by Chris Bellman and mastered by Bob Ludwig that requires more than the StudioSilver to fully deliver but much of what's in the groove did show up. Though I played many more records using this cartridge, the performance was enough to convince me that unless you like the warm side of cartridge life, the StudioSilver is a genuine bargain that delivers far in excess of its price point, especially in terms of vocal verisimilitude. Patrick sounded just like Patrick!