Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

While the DNA of Kensington’s C-600 MC is clear enough [see boxout] this particular model looks closest to the host’s own P-1 Green pick-up than either the costlier G-1 MKII [HFN Mar ’25] or top-end REF MC [HFN Sep ’24]. In practice, the C-600 combines the boron cantilever, the elliptical stylus, the low 9-10cu compliance and +1dB 20Hz ‘bass boost’ of the G-1 MKII with the bright +3.5dB/10kHz and +7dB/17kHz top-end response [Graph 1, below] seen with the higher compliance REF MC. Stereo separation is excellent at 34dB midband, though the channel balance could be tighter at 0.6dB. The C-600’s output is rather low too, and lower than its 0.45mV spec. at just 188μV (re. 1kHz/5cm/sec into 50ohm). This is not surprising as the C-600 looks to have slightly fewer 4N OCC turns than its cousins, hence the lower 5ohm coil impedance and choice of a reduced 50ohm loading for our tests. In short, the C-600 is a low-output MC requiring a phono preamp offering a minimum 70dB gain.

Low compliance also makes the C-600 better suited to medium/heavy tonearms and while the low 1.4g recommended downforce seems ambitious, it still sailed through the +15dB groove (re. 0dB at 315Hz/5cm/sec) at <0.5% THD, and navigated the top +18dB modulation at ~2.5% THD. Still, if you want to hit really big grooves with the C-600 then increase the tracking force beyond the quoted 1.4g while carefully fettling your arm’s bias adjustment. The latter is critical in realising the C-600’s fine generator symmetry – lateral and stereo cuts are only slightly hotter than vertical [black and dashed vs. red traces, Graph 1] – and the distortion trend follows suit, peaking at 13% at 15kHz with stereo cuts [dashed grey trace, Graph 2]. PM