Ikeda - KAI - MC Cartridge

Ikeda - KAI - MC Cartridge 

IKEDA Sound Labs KAI MC Cartridge is the highlight of over four decades of experiences in cartridge design

The newest flagship Ikeda KAI MC cartridge is the very special model that uses the high quality materials and components in each part of cartridge in order to further improve the performance over conventional models.

The KAI is designed to rank amongst the very best out there. It represents Ikeda-san's over 4 decades of experiences in cartridge design. The KAI represents his finest masterpiece ever made in his entire analog career. The new KAI moving coil cartridge is the culmination of technology and craftsmanship to represent his best efforts to date.  

Each cartridge is hand assembled, precision aligned, and inspected one by one. Output voltage is 0.19 mVrms, coil impedance is 2.5 Ohms, and appropriate stylus force is 1.8g (±0.2g). Frequency response is from 10Hz to 45kHz, channel separation is over 27dB and channel balance is within 1.0dB (1kHz).

The body unit is made of a solid aluminum alloy and the base mounting the generator unit is made of the strongest Titanium. The body unit is buff polished and then coated with an Ikeda Blue Alumite. These special materials and craftsmanship will thoroughly bring out abilities of both the micro-ridge stylus chip and the Boron cantilever which enable a superior delivery of oscillation. 

In addition, thanks to the highly efficient Permalloy core, low impedance coils, ideally shaped magnet yoke, and the generator unit embedded samarium-cobalt magnet; it is possible to reproduce the sound as close as the original recording.

Ikeda KAI cartridges are always carefully assembled, precisely aligned, and meticulously produced one by one, in order to extract the musical elements as it was recorded in LPs & SPs.