Gold Note Tuscany Gold MC cartridge

The Gold Note Tuscany Gold low output MC cartridge is the embodiment of the Italian brand’s expertise in terms of moving coil cartridge.

The Tuscany Gold is Gold Note’s flagship. It meets the highest standards in terms of technology and assembly.

GOLD NOTE TUSCANY RED: DESIGN

Of course, the Tuscany Gold is a low output MC cartridge. The manufacturer started from scratch for the design which required more than 3 years of work and development. It meets the highest standards to ensure the greatest audio performance possible.

The Gold Note Tuscany Gold proposes a completely innovative design partly performed by computer modelling. The objective of the Italian manufacturer is to offer the most high-performance low output MC cartridge possible without compromise.

GOLD NOTE TUSCANY GOLD: BODY

The chassis of this MC cartridge (moving coil) was milled from a solid duralumin 7000 block with injected polymers. It provides complete mechanical resistance and optimum damping while limiting the formation of resonance or vibration within the generator or the moving system.

The shape, cutting and perforations were made according to precise specifications following testing and measurements. These cavities help reducing the weight of the phono cartridge and eliminating vibration nodes. Moreover, this cubic shape greatly facilitates the alignment and adjustment of the VTA.

GOLD NOTE TUSCANY GOLD: STYLUS AND GENERATOR

This Gold Note Tuscany Gold is provided with a Micro Elliptical stylus named Micro Ridge. This extra-thin stylus was developed by the Japanese manufacturer Adamant-Namiki. This major stylus manufacturer (the most famous in the world) is the only one which guarantees perfect profile and therefore best performance in this category.

It’s mounted on a hardened boron cantilever held by a titanium tube, further increasing the rigidity of the whole structure.

The generator is designed around pure silver coils and very high-quality samarium-cobalt magnets. The generator was limited in terms of winding, allowing the moving system to be lighter and thus faster. And, of course, it also helped make the internal impedance drop significantly, and thus the output level as well.

GOLD NOTE TUSCANY GOLD: COMBINATION

A 66-dB gain MC phono preamplifier is required due to the 0.25 mV output level. This phono preamplifier also requires an adjustable load impedance because the conventional 100 ohms are too low. We recommend a 50 to 80 ohms load maximum.

The weight and tracking force associated with its compliance make this Gold Note Tuscany Gold pretty versatile; it’s compatible with most high-end tonearms having average and high effective mass.

GOLD NOTE TUSCANY GOLD: TESTING AND LISTENING

From the first few measures, and just like its little sister the Tuscany Red MC cartridge, the Gold Note Tuscany Gold allows you to be fully immersed in music while making you forget its mechanics and electronics! It doesn’t want to charm you or make some useless demonstration. Everything is in its place with rigour, precision and finesse.

The quality and precision of the timbres are marvellous! The Tuscany Gold goes much further than the Red version in terms of analysis and transparency. This doesn’t mean that it’s artificial or clear. It seems like the Hi-Fi speakers are showing their true potential. The reverberation of the recording place is clearer, and cymbal hits are stronger and thus more realistic.

In contrast, timbre and width are not impacted, which is a feat. The Tuscany Gold perfectly materialises space between the musicians and the soundstage’s width with stunning realism. This Gold Note phono cartridge was truly designed to provide maximum musicality, realism and emotion.

We can consider the Gold Note Tuscany Gold as one of the best low output MC cartridges on the market!

This cartridge fits exactly between Japanese major productions, that can be considered too “soft” and romantic with a lack of transparency and precision, and famous European cartridges, which may lack substance and refinement. Gold Note achieves the feat of combining the best of both worlds with superb balance!

Would recommend +++