Audio Technica AT 33 SA MC cartridge

The Audio Technica AT 33 SA MC cartridge is a superior version of the famous Audio Technica AT 33PTG/II MC cartridge. From the outside, apart from its grey finish, nothing distinguishes them. In order to get rid of parasitic resonances, this cartridge has a sandwich moulded under pressure aluminium alloy body with a synthetic resin.

The major novelty is that this cartridge is the first Audio Technica moving coil model to have a Shibata stylus tip! In addition to the improved treble performances, thanks to an “almost” ideal line-contact, the Shibata stylus guarantees precise, very nuanced, and rich bass and mid-range. This magnificent Shibata stylus is mounted on a tapered boron cantilever with a double damper to greatly improve the sound quality. Audio Technica proudly announces a life span of more than 1000 hours for this stylus!

The coils were doubled in order to reduce crosstalk between the 2 channels as much as possible. They use a PCOCC conductor (Pure Copper by Ohno Continuous Casting), coiled in a way to reduce the internal impedance to only10 ohms! The generator uses neodymium magnets that provide a powerful magnetic field. It has a permendur structure which further enhances the concentrated magnetic field of the coil. The low impedance, combined to an output voltage of 0.4mV, enable to use this MC cartridge with the majority of quality MC phono preamplifiers.

We recommend that you listen to this Audio Technica AT 33 SA MC cartridge at least 50 hours before judging it (same as with the majority of MC cartridges). From the first few minutes, we recognize the very natural general balance of the AT 33PTG version, but with several improvements. The bass is deeper and more articulated. The midrange remains present but with a superior definition and a more obvious naturalness. The trebles are chiseled and precise, loyal to the Japanese manufacturer. The distortion and surface noise are almost non existent, even on relatively vintage vinyl records. The restitution remains very lively and dynamic, whatever the style of music you are listening to.  The excellent channel separation and the silence of this Hi-Fi cartridge produce a surprising, precise, and very credible soundstage.

This Audio Technica AT 33 SA MC cartridge is certainly Audio Technica’s best product to date. The quality/price ratio is exceptional! It is to believe that a large part of the best phono cartridges are equipped with a Shibata stylus!

Highly recommended!