Miyajima Madake 真竹 cartridge

emperor

Dear all

I am very surprised no one in the community is talking about Madake cartridge. PT told me to keep my mouth shut for A month. But I can't help given the superlative joy I have been enjoying. It is way better than my other beloved cartridge like Kansui, Da Vinci, Koetsu and Ikeda KAI.

It does not sound like typical Japanese cartridge, either focus entirely on the pristine clarity of treble like the ZYX, or the lust mid range of the Koetsu and Kai. Have you ever heard people comment any Japanese cart that the bass is vibrant and fast? Lyra, maybe, but it is on the dry side of sound. Old people like myself would like some more color here and there.

The KAI has been PT's reference but mind you that he has the super Wadax phono to rectify the non-linearity. That is why his KAI is fast. Anyway, the Madake is a pleasant surprise. It is also economical. It is definitely a super cart. I am using it with da vinci virtu arm.

emperor

The Madake helps me to ventilate my uneasiness over the "Occupy Central" in the entire October. My Art businesses were severely affected even in Hollywood Road.

Jeff

I concur. I have even using Madake for a month on Simplicty 2 arm on my NVS. They have immense synergy. The Madake is very expressive and passionate. Unlike other Japanese offerings (which I also like), this bamboo cantilever is unique. It is not colorated like Koetsu and KAI. But Madake clearly gives better musical flow.

Mr.Zanden-USA

路過中環去探下植師父，入咗lift先記得佢老人家星期一休息。 誰先一到M層走廊，我被一把人聲的動態及能量吸引，值大師父竟然開鋪。走入店後，原来佢突别今天要set up "真竹” 唱頭。Phono是當今極紅的Trinity，唱臂是Simplicity 2.

師父話要用Columbia curve聽此段。本人長病剛復源，也不是黑膠狂迷，不敢說三道四，但此系统的中頻的密度和動態是罕有的真實。師父話Willy Nelson 唱 Bridge Over Troubled Water是他安裝新唱頭必試的曲目。呢套系统有好強的活生感，中低音的punch快，有質，彈跳感等，令我打過「突」。可惜師父要走，我只聽了一支歌，不過真的有種嘩了出來的感受。

乙女

真竹的聲音是"美妙絶倫"。音像的實體感有可觸碰到的感覺，旋律快慢有序，而且動態可非常洶湧，但又不是金手指式的粗放式開合上落。前後層次感非常立體。我在King Puyi的Gallery第一次聽真竹已經被深深迷上了，估不到直師父到現在才安裝。

Jeff

Over the past few years, my reference cartridges had been Lyra Atlas, Ikeda KAI, Goldfinger Statement, Koetsu Platinum, Da Vinci Grandezza, Magic Diamond, and Dynavector XV-1t and various Emminents etc. Practically, I bought any flagship cartridge once they are available because I take the view that these Japanese masters are all going to die very soon.

Miyajima san since the Shilabe days offer very good value for the money cartridge. It can't be compared to the top offerings from other manufacturers even with the advance to Kansui, even though there is notable improvement in trebel resolution.

The Madake is however something else. I don't speak this lightly. Not only it compare head to head with other top offerings in my possession, it is perhaps the most expressive catridge I have ever experienced. And you need to mount it to experience that. Words can't descirbe, at least my writing skills can't. I don't want to write comemnts that can be used to describe others.

And this catridge pricing is too good to be true. It should be price signficantly higher if Lyra Atlas and Koetsu can ask for USD10,000.

wavac

Just paid a visit to 植師傅。I am sold. Bought one Madake immediately.

Longinus

Madake is a no brainer. I got mine installed

直師父

各位,

我只安裝了真竹一天，仍需煲練。佢是低compliance唱頭，和Simplicity 2先天擁有的完全拾訊的能力，可以話説是十分之合拍。我試過Trinity phono不同的impedance, 暫時選了25 ohm給大家恭聽。

Jeff

I don't need to worry about loading because I am using Wadax phono . Upon more run in, the Madake renders a field of musical energy that thrills my spine on some of very excellent recordings like LA4, Ray Brown Trio etc. The rendition of violin, unlike many Japanese counterparts, generate genuine color. I would rank it head to head with VDH Colibri Platinum, Lyra Olympos (yes, no exaggeration here. The tone of the Madake is captivating and has more resolution in the mid range than the Olympos).

Other top end Japanese cartrige are of course good but offer more or less homogenous color in the mid range and yes they are colorated in a different way, which is good depending on mix and match.

I agree that the Madake is mechanically compiled with Simplicity 2. They combined as one piece.

VoyR

Jeff big shot,

What is your "prime" cartridge before Madake? My prime cartridge is Dynavector XV-1t.

乙女

我的Zanden phono選擇了“低”阻抗，聲音比高阻抗更自然。

Kahw

I got mine after reading this!!!

Jeff

Kahw,

You will be very happy. It mechanically complies with Simplicity 2 very well. I believe 直師父 in HK also concurs. Even though the output is 0.2mv, the energy radiates from this cartridge is enromous compared to cart with higher output. I puzzle somewhat about this phenomenon. But it is a very good cart. Enjoy. Make sure the loading is correct. What is your phono stage?

Jeff

My prime cartridge has been Lyra Atlas most of the time. Javier needs to map the cartridge in order to get the best out of it. My arm is Durand Telos. On the simplicity 2 side, I have been using Vdh Colibri Platinum. And this arm goes into Trinity phono. I replaced vDH Colibri Platinum with Madake about 2 weeks ago.

Marvel

Kahw,

Regardless of how good you are in setting up the cartridge,I strongly suggest you invite Master Chik for a finetuning,you will be amazed by his skills....I am never able to listen the true potential of my vinyl setup without Master Chik's help...