FROM THE INTERVIEW WITH TAKEDA-SAN:
To give me a feel for Takeda San's philosophy on cartridge design, Yoshi Segoshi of Sakura Systems - the US importer for Takeda San's Miyabi creations - shared some excerpts with me from interviews with Takeda San:
"There were many things that caused my frustration with reproduced music but the most essential of them was the lack of communication. The sound coming out of the speakers did not communicate with me as the sound of a live concert did. What was missing? I thought the major limiting factor was the lack of linearity in dynamics. This linearity rises smoothly from a low level pianissimo to the highest fortissimo. This dynamic linearity wasn't really linear in many past designs. Even a beautiful performance becomes unenjoyable and shrinks in scope with the dimished modulations in dynamics. For example, a piano fortissimo is reduced to a mezzo forte. While listening to Chopin's Etudes by Ashkenazy, I couldn't understand why the pianist played it like that. It didn't get exciting. Where it was supposed to boil with passion, it went soft. Very disappointing. Most of the cartridges in the past were like that. The problem was in the design itself. If you do it right, you can secure the linearity of dynamics. It took me only 30 years to realize how to do it properly.
-TAKEDA-SAN
"Another thing that is very important is the composition of the material used at the signal input of cartridges. This material had been used in vintage pro cartridges from Western Electric, Decca, Neumann, EMI etc. (vintage mono cartridges lower left). In the early '60s, this material was replaced by another one which is easier to deal with. Since then, almost all cartridge manufacturers use the new material. That, I think, is the main reason why modern cartridges sounds smooth but rather hifi-ish. The most important midrange is not rich enough. I pretty much understood how to build this style of cartridge 15 years ago. I spent the 30 years before that experimenting. There are manufacturers who seem to recognize what's important. You'll know when you listen to their product. Assembling a cartridge is not a big deal. Everybody can do it after a year of practice. Even designing a cartridge is not a big deal if you just want an average product. It's a damn repetition and I wasted a lot of time in that pattern too."
-TAKEDA-SAN
"I don't ship out my cartridges right after their construction. I always listen to them for a couple of hours, make any necessary adjustments and then let them sit for about a week. I then repeat the same process until at least 20 hours of listening sessions have accumulated. So it usually takes 2 - 3 months from the construction of a Miyabi cartridge to its delivery. This is a bit different from what people call break-in. A Miyabi cartridge is like a living thing made of a combination of different materials. It needs to be well taken care of to reach its stable stage in the same way that a baby needs care and a child needs an education to grow up to become a decent adult." -TAKEDA-SAN
"When I asked Takeda San what kind of listener he designed the Miyabi Standard for, his answer surprised me: "Well, I actually designed it to appeal to myself, to the way I want to listen to music." You can't argue with the logic of designing a cartridge that you enjoy listening to yourself. Chances are that if someone with as distinguished tastes as Takeda San likes it, you and me might just like it, too. The history and background of Takeda San and his labors to handcraft each and every Miyabi cartridge to be a musical work of art sure get me excited. I have a real treat in store for you (and me too!): This preview of the Miyabi Standard is the kick-off for the first review of a series of reviews that will survey the Miyabi Standard, the Miyabi 47 and the Miyabi Custom moving coil phonograph cartridges." - JEFF DAY
At least one manufacturer of today's High-End LOMC inspired by Miyabi.
This is FUUGA ! HAS ANYONE TRIED IT ? More about it here.
Beyond Miyabi... Revival of the Miyabi cartridges spirit...
The Fuuga’s MC’s development is the proud creation of long time Takeda San friend Osamu Nagao who was also Miyabi’s exclusive dealer in Japan for years. It took more then three years of very demanding R&D to develop a cartridge that would follow the heritage of great artisan. With the the expertise and partnership of Haruo Takeda completely new and ultra refined cartridge was born.
Fuuga implements extremely strong neodymium magnet and multi layered Titanium, which is extremely expensive and difficult to produce. Especially for such sensitive and miniature device.
“Miyabi” (雅) means “elegance” in Japanese. To honor the legacy of “Miyabi”, Nagao named it “Fuuga” (風雅), which means “elegance with flair”.