Jan Allaerts cartridges

Jan Allaerts cartridges are actually hand made in Belgium. The sonic performance is very airy and natural, and outplay Benz, Ortofon and Vandenhul in this respect.

Just a quick follow-up for those interested. I spoke to the importer, and Mr. Allaerts does in fact manufacture hand-made cartridges in Belgium. They range from $1500 (reviewed in the recent Listener issue) to $6000. He reportedly makes about 50-55 cartridges per year. Not sure for how long they have been produced, but they are (reportedly) gaining a good reputation in Europe. Any experience 'from the field' would still be appreciated.

I would like to humbly suggest the Miyabi Alnico (2995) as a very rewarding alternative. Reviewd by Art in Listener and received 5-star rating. Art stated it was the best he had ever heard and it also was the only high-end cartridge to appear in Listener's "Recommended Components" special issue.

Dealer solicititations aside, it was also Mr. Dudley who reviewed the Allaerts in the recent Listener issue, and the entry level model at that. He considered it 'a truly great cartridge' at U.S. $1500. I would appreciate further comments being geared towards the Allaerts line only. Thanks!

Only a handful of phono preamps (the Progressive Audio Phono 1 when carefully set up, the Jeff Rowland, a few others) can successfully cope with the Allaerts cartridges. Be careful when purchasing these cartridges to be sure that you have an adequate phono preamp (the FM 122, for instance, does not have an appropriate resistance setting for the Allaerts; many other preamps will make the Allaerts cartridges sound noisy, especially between tracks). But if you find the right combination, the dynamics (both inner and outer), the bass response, and the spatial representation will be stupendous.