TOP WING FLIES DOWN UNDER

Pure Music Group is now the sole Australian distributor for Top Wing moving-coil phono cartridges, which are manufactured by hand in Japan and now available for audition at Sonic Purity, in Melbourne. The Seiryu (Blue Dragon) and Suzaku (Red Sparrow) cartridges use what Top Wing describes as ‘ a Coreless Straight Flux power generation system’: one coreless coil for each channel, with the two coils arrayed in a V shape above a magnet, an arrangement the company says results in the coils moving through the flux lines in a way that better represents the movement of the stylus caused by undulations in the walls of the record groove. Another advantage of Top Wing’s Coreless Straight Flux system is that the stylus can be replaced more cost-effectively than with conventional moving-coil cartridges. ‘ The stylus replacement cost is only one tenth of the cost of the cartridge and is expertly handled by Top Wing after the cartridge is returned to them,’ said Rom Beyerle of Pure Music Group, ‘ so a stylus replacement for the Seiryu costs only $940 and one for the Red Sparrow, just $1,250.’ Both the Seiryu and Suzaku use the Coreless Straight Flux system, have an output voltage of 0.2mV and an internal impedance of 12.3 . The Seiryu sells for $9,400 and the Suzaku for $12,500. For more information, contact Pure Music Group on (04) 0950 4805 or