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172.1.249.15
Trying to find out if this cartridge is being imported into the US; no luck with Google or Bing so far. Anyone?
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used in the garage system with a new Soundsmith ruby cantilever - they don't do boron!
Yes,- we do Boron all the time.
Peter Ledermann/Soundsmith
Hello Peter,
This statement by you has come as quite a surprise! It is the impression that you do 3 levels of cantilever replacements. One is Aluminum and the other two are Ruby. I have not seen any mention of Boron anywhere on your web site. You have lost some business from me and I am sure also from quite a few others due to this lack of knowledge on our part. Perhaps you have kept this information quite to prevent a major backlog?
Best regards,
Don
Don Griffith
That didn't seem to be an available option when you retipped my Shinon in 2012. I have the Ruby cantilever instead.
I'll remember that for the next time!
He retipped a Koetsu for me w/boron and a micro-ridge
And I thought he only sung bubblegum. :)
Hi
Surely safety regulations concerning boron can't be the reason. Here's a shortlist of currently available boron-cantilevered cartridges:
Ortofon Quintet Black
Ortofon Cadenza Black (plus their esoteric designs such as the MC Anna)
Nagaoka MP-200, 300 and 500
Audio-Technica AT-OC9 (and higher-end models)
I'm sure there must be others!
Mark
At the time certain EPA rulings were fairly lax ( this was c.1990). While boron production and use resumed after, it took several years for the manufacturing companies to install special ventilation systems (clean air rooms) and air fed respirator systems for workers. Such systems are not cheap, nor can they be instantly installed.
Ignorance of regulatory rulings has affected many products within the audio world, Polystyrene film ceased production in ALL first world countries back in around the late 1990's because one byproduct of polystyrene production is dioxin. Yeah polystyrene is made again, but primarily in Mainland China where regulatory restrictions are very lax.
The same reason is why speaker magnet production has moved to Mainland China. Most modern magnets are doped with heavy and rare earth elements. In the US and Europe, there are strict respiratory requirements for the workers and any waste ( dust, shavings, etc) must be handled as toxic waste: very expensive. In China you can just sweep it into the street....(just about)
Ah, interesting!
Of course, it's never entirely clear who makes the cantilever/stylus assemblies for each cartridge, especially when the maker is a small company. It appears only a tiny number of firms have the capability - and presumably their main business is elsewhere (like Nagaoka, for example).
Taking up your point, Pro-Ject use an outside contractor to make their carbon-fibre arm-tubes, as this is also a pretty nasty material to work with in the 'raw' state.
Namiki was the largest cantilever styli maker in Japan. They could make sapphire/ruby cantilevers and even made the diamond ones for Dynavector , IIRC
Ernst Benz dominated the European scene. IIRC, he actually designed the laser cutters to cut and shape the diamond styli. He also pioneered the use of UV cured glues for adhering the styli. Prior Styli were mounted in a socket, or had a small hole milled out in the cantilever end for the stylus to be inserted.
Benz, maybe in response to the EPA requirements simply flattened the cantilever end and mounted the stylus against the flat building up a small fillet of glue around the base of the styli. The claim was that the stylus then made a more intimate contact with the cantilever rather than floating around in a sleeve of glue.
Ernst was a very pleasant to gentleman to speak to, He once laughingly told me he could carry a palm full of naked styli worth a million dollars....He once made more money supplying OEM styli rather building his own cartridges
A Shinon Red Boron just sold on eBay for $600. Apparently this is still strong interest in these wonderful cartridges.
Anyone know the year they were last produced?
"You can’t know what the “best” is unless you have heard everything, and keep in mind that given individual tastes, there really isn’t any such thing." HP
Shinon was brought in by a Canadian distributor but died back in the late 80's when Japan adopted EPA and OSHA laws. Boron in cantilever can be carcinogenic, if inhaled or dust ingested.
Great cartridge though,: dynamic n with enough output for most tube phono sections
Thanks everyone. I also think there must be some other reason besides the cantilever the importer stopped bringing them into North America. Perhaps the importer is out of business, or manufacturing ceased? Does anyone have contact info for the importer or Shinon itself?
Used to work for a dealer. There was a time period when anything boron ceased production and Shinon got caught by this adaptation to new EPA like requirements. The Canadian distributor was not really a designer and merely had them made for his sales, and had no other product to carry on.
Closest to the Shinon I could get was the Benz lineup which has also materially changed in the past few years.
At the time, boron cantilevers seem add tremendous dynamic range; as witness the Talisman B ( B for boron cantilever, they had an aluminum one and a sapphire one too).
I would assume that someone could start up manufacture again. The cantilever/styli were made by Namiki, IIRC. Body looks similar to older AQ aluminum bodies, rather generic, to be honest.
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