Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Although the JSD 6's output is specified at 1.05mV/5cm/sec, and our individual sample was QC'd by EMT at 0.21mV, on test it delivered an altogether different 786μV (0.79mV) – a figure entirely in keeping with an MC of this design. The recommended 2.3-2.4g tracking force is also entirely appropriate for an MC of low (12cu) dynamic compliance and this, in combination with the 6μm tip radius 'Super Fine Line/multi-faceted' diamond helps it clear a 65-70µm groove pitch and tough +15dB modulation (315Hz lateral cut, re. 11.2μm) at <1.5% THD. In practice, our JSD 6 mistracked in the maximum +18dB groove modulation so it's not quite as secure as the rated 80μm might suggest, but then I've never tested any low compliance MC that has tracked up to +18dB/80μm! Otherwise, with its 10g bodyweight – not including mounting bolts – the JSD 6 will be compatible with a wide range of medium/high-mass tonearms (8-20g).

EMT has engineered a very widebandwidth MC here, the response peaking at +5dB from 12kHz to 20kHz [see Graph 1, below], so beware systems that already have a sting in their tail. Note also the low bass boost – big, reflex-loaded speakers are possibly best avoided unless your phono preamp has a subsonic roll-off. More importantly, this contoured response shows excellent symmetry between lateral and vertical cuts [black and red traces], promising a very uniform colour across the soundstage and powerfully-focussed images. The matched lateral/vertical trend of THD versus frequency [Graph 2] is also very impressive and the high 10-16% distortion at 10kHz-20kHz simply a reflection of the JSD 6's extended response than any indication of a 'real' non-linearity. PM