So suddenly, there seems to be a trend for Uber-LOMC cartridges released with Diamond Cantilevers...😱 As if the High-End MC cartridges were not already overpriced....?! Orofon have released the MC-ANNA-DIAMOND after previously releasing the Limited Edition MC-CENTURY...also with Diamond Cantilever. Then there’s the KOETSU BLOODSTONE PLATINUM and DYNAVECTOR KARAT 17D2 and ZYX ULTIMATE DIAMOND and probably several more.
But way back in 1980....Sony released a Diamond-Cantilevered version of its fine XL-88 LOMC Cartridge. Imaginatively....they named this model the XL-88D and, because it was the most expensive phono cartridge in the world (costing 7500DM which was more expensive than a Volkswagen at the time)....Sony, cleverly disguised this rare beast to look EXACTLY like its ’cheap’ brother with its complex hybrid cantilever of "special light metal held by a carbon-fibre pipe both being held again by a rigid aluminium pipe". The DIAMOND CANTILEVER on the 88D however......was a thing of BEAUTY and technological achievement, being formed from ONE PIECE OF DIAMOND including the stylus 🤯🙏🏽
I’ve owned the XL-88 for many years and recently discovered that it was my best (and favourite) cartridge when mounted in the heavy Fidelity Research S-3 Headshell on the SAEC WE-8000/ST 12" Tonearm around my VICTOR TT-101 TURNTABLE. Without knowing this in advance.....I would not have been prepared to bid the extraordinary prices (at a Japanese Auction Site) that these rare cartridges keep commanding. To find one in such STUNNING CONDITION with virtually no visible wear was beyond my expectations 😃
So how does it sound.....? Is there a difference to the standard XL-88? Is the Diamond Cantilever worth the huge price differential? Is the Pope a Catholic....?
This cartridge simply ’blows my mind’...which is hard to do when I’ve had over 80 cartridges on 10 different arms mounted on two different turntables 🤯 As Syntax said on another Thread:-
When you have 2 identical carts, one regular cantilever and the other one with diamond cantilever (Koetsu Stones for example), the one with diamond cantilever shows more details, is a bit sharper in focus and the soundstage is a bit deeper and wider. They can sound a bit more detailed overall with improved dynamics
I’ll leave it at that for the time being. I will soon upload to YouTube, the sound comparisons between the two Sony versions on my HEAR MY CARTRIDGES THREAD.
But now I’ve bought myself a nightmarish scenario....... There is no replacement stylus for this cartridge! There is no replacement cantilever for this cartridge! Each time I play records with it, I am ’killing’ it a bit more 🥴😥 If I knew how long I had left to live......I could program my ’listening sessions’ 🤪 But failing this.....I can’t help but feel slightly uncomfortable listening to this amazing machine.
Dear @edgewear : The cantilever build material and in specific diamond against boron needs a little " analysis ".
My take as been no design/build cartridge expert is as coming:
first define the overall cantilever functions that seems to me an " easy " task:
one of that functions is to hold the stylus tip and second ( could be others. ) and along the cartridge suspension is to follow the modulations/vibrations transmited by the stylus grooves riding and this function is way critical because the ideal is to do it/transmit those movements with out adding cantilever self vibrations/resonances.
That last point is impossible to achieve due not only to the strog forces generated during the stylus grooves ridding but because not even the diamond is a perfect non vibrational cantilever material and because each cantilever along the stylus and its fulcrum has a resonance frequency.
So those tiny grooves modulations is desired too be transmitted at fast as it can.
I don’t know if the synthetic diamond used in cantilevers has exactly the same characteristics than the real natural diamond but if we compare differences in between real natural diamond and boron those differences are not night and day ( both materials are away from other cantilever materials. ). Example:
density D=2.41 B=3.5 Young Modulus D=1,050 B=656 ( in other studies says the density of boron is: 2.35. )
All those numbers comes from Namiki site. The biggest difference looks at stifness but the boron still is way superior to other materials but diamond and very good as use in cantilevers.
I can’t see that the build material in a cantilever with diamond or with boron can makes a big differences per sé and what we listen through either material is colored too by the cantilever shape and its length along the quality of the cartridge suspension and cartridge engine/motor.
I think that exist to many variables to confirm with out doubt the absolute superiority of sysnthetic diamond vs boron in cartridge cantilevers.
Well all those and what I posted before on this regards is my amateur opinion.
I suppose your comment was aimed at the old discussion about Victor MC-L1000.
exactly
I wouldn’t hesitate to call on him when the need arrives.
certainly, all my cartridges and tonearms always go through his hands for a check. I no longer send to anyone else, he did revive cartridges given for passed off by others that not even Christ with his famous miracles would have succeeded. Of course, everything has a cost.
I suppose your comment was aimed at the old discussion about Victor MC-L1000. The sample I received was in pristine condition and is still working great. I'm aware of its vulnerability, so I use it sparingly and only with clean records.
BTW, Daniele of cartridgelab did a great job on my Dynavector DV-30C and was a very pleasant guy to communicate with. I wouldn't hesitate to call on him when the need arrives.
@edgewear Daniel can solve if the problems are small but if the problems are big you have to evaluate if it is convenient. They would fly from your pockets to his hundreds and hundreds of dollars, he himself may suggest not to.He explained to me that over time all those heads could suffer the same problems, dust or small particles that creep between the coils and the magnetic seat, or that the coil holder breaks.The coils are printed on plastic support (pcb) and this suffers from the passage of time. Daniel would have to rebuild everything from scratch. If possible keep the vinyls and the underside of the cartridge very clean.
It would be interesting to know how this compares to the current TechDas AirForce tables. Nishikawa-San designed both, so this would be a great way of gauging the impact of new technology and engineering capabilities as well as the learning curve of its designer over the course of 30+ years.
Unfortunately I’ve never seen let alone heard either of these tables, so this is something I won’t be able to experience for myself. But I’d like to hear stories of people who did.
Hi @edgewear Yoshihisa Mori was close friends with Kanemori Takai, and after Mori left Sony, he was involved in a variety of projects, one of which would have been the creation of a cartridge production line inside Final.
FWIW, Final was originally formed by two brothers with the family name of Kitamura; I was friends with them before Takai-san acquired the brand and merged it with his own Takai Laboratory.
Due to Mori-san's friendship with Takai-san, and his high-ranking position within the Sony corporate organization, I believe that Mori was able to obtain special dispensation for Takai-san to use the XL-88D design and suitable components from Sony's parts-bins.
Since Sony by that time was so heavily focused on digital (eventually Mori became the head of Sony's SACD division, and came to be called "Mr. SACD"), the cartridge IP was no longer of much value to Sony.
As you write, the body is that of an XL-44 (the XL-55 looks similar but has a different finger-lift design, among other detail differences). Small scratches reveal the underlying plastic to be of a different color than the metal-blue surface, therefore the color was painted onto the plastic rather than being molded into it (as would have been done for real bespoke production).
The coils appears to be of the coreless figure-8 type, which was the final coil design that Mori-san settled on for its MC designs.
I can't comment about the damper choice, as this is not visible from the photos. However, the damper-to-cantilever matching is one of the key aspects which can make or break a cartridge's sound, and given the size and production volume of Sony's cartridges division, they would have possessed a range of different rubber compounds and shapes. Therefore it wouldn't be a surprise if Takai-san chose a different set of dampers to the XL-88D, and if so, the sound wouldn't have been the same.
Again as you write, the joint-pipe is long and the one-piece stylus-and-cantilever diamond section short on this sample, showing that this used the standard XL-88D configuration rather than following the extreme and costly Custom.
Finally, since the body is of the integrated-shell variety, this cartridge must be used with a universal-type tonearm. The universal headshell connector, although widely adopted for its convenience, has a number of fundamental design flaws will most likely limit the performance level that can be extracted from this cartridge.
Still, this could have been a very interesting purchase. The screwed-on copper top was most likely added to make working on it easier than the molded-and-glued-shut Sony originals.
Too bad the auction seems to have ended (wonder what it ultimately sold for).
kind regards, jonathan
Amazing! I've seen this cartridge before several times, but the full story is awesome. Thanks Jonathan.
@rauliruegas interesting point to suggest that some manufacturers reserve the use of a diamond cantilever for samples with the most stringently selected parts. In that case the diamond is 'the icing in the cake' and the extra charge not just for the higher cost of the diamond material, but also reflecting the value of the higher quality samples, which obviously translates to better performance.
I hope you are correct, but I have my doubts as there are huge differences in the way manufacturers offer the 'diamond option'. Ortofon charges around $1500 extra for the Anna Diamond (mostly reflecting the extra material cost), whereas Koetsu charges something like $4000. Call me cynical, but I can't shake the feeling that the market demand for 'trophies for the rich' has something to do with it as well. Perhaps snob appeal was also the reason these vintage diamond cantilever cartridges were produced, but somehow I doubt that. As you suggest, competition back than was probably more driven by performance than by marketing.
edgewear : I was talking more of vintage cartridges than today ones.
In those old times in Japan existed a " savage " competition between cartridge designs and obviously to take higher part of the market with top designs. Tha's why existed so many diamond cantilever designs from well regarded manufacturers. The benefits were for the customers.
One manufacturer told me and it's my take that speaking of diamond cantilever top of the line model the overall build of those cartridges is a lot more " accurated " than with the non diamond cantilevers. Example: estrictc hand selected parts as the cantilever it self the stylus condition/polished, extreme tigth tolerances in the coils, cartridge body construction, kind of dampers, estrict voicing, tight measurements and everything need it for a finished cartridge. The manufacturer has to do it to put a high price tag, so for me all those is a difference against the " normal " boron cantilever same models.
Diamond as Boron or other cantilever material has its own signature and for unknow to me reasons manufacturers like Dynavector did not choosed diamond cantilever in its today top of the line models neither Lyra and many others.
It's the sum of the parts ( how the manufacturer take care about. ) and not only the diamond cantilever what could make that " not big difference ".
In the other side we audiophiles when bougth a top of the line diamond cantilever at high $$$$ we are biased to think it will performs excellent and better than the non diamond cantilever model, so more or less we are " conditionned " in that way.
The same question that mijos did it to JC I did it in the past too. Could be important and this is for sure that JC can gives to all of us his expert opinion. Maybe his next move could be a diamond cantilver Lyra design. or maybe he knows that diamond can't gives an advantage over his today top Lamda series.
@rauliruegas there are cases where identical cartridges are offered with either boron or diamond cantilevers, like Ortofon MC Anna, Transfiguration Proteus and the gemstone Koetsu's. So direct comparisons are possible to judge the added value (sonic, not monetary) that diamond cantilevers might bring.
My own experience is limited to the Matsudaira designed Entré EC-30 (boron cantilever) and Soltear II (diamond cantilever), both sharing the same specs and the same integrated headshell. Although the Soltear performs on a higher level, it's not a big difference.
Never heard of the Fulton RSD, thanks for mentioning.
Dear friends: Diamond cantilever vintage cartridge designs performs really good even the ones that are not one piece cantilever/stylus and one example about is the Audio Technica AT-1000 that edgewear already experienced.
I think that the diamond cantilever cartridges performs as it performs by its overall design and its quality levels of excecution of that design and not because the diamong per sé. I think too that we never know how those diamond designs could performs with boron cantilevers.
Now if you want other, not named here, very good quality performer diamond cantilever vintage cartridge ( between others. ) that I own look for the Fulton RSD, in 1982 this Fulton item had a price tag of 1.650K and maybe the more expensive cartridge in those times into USA market. Very good performer.
@jcarr , Is there a reason you do not make a cartridge with a diamond cantilever? As a maker of fine cartridges I doubt it would be the cost of it as it seems you are willing to do anything to make the finest cartridge you are capable of. Thanx in advance for your answer.
@dover, I will do so and perhaps even set up some kind of vintage ’diamond cantilever’ shoot out after delivery of the Final. The other contenders would be Audio Technica AT-1000MC, Dynavector Karat Nova 13D, Entré Soltear II and Sato Musen Zen Diamond.
In case you’re wondering, I don’t have any of the 10k ’modern’ cartridges with diamond cantilever to compare them to. At these prices I’m not going to either.
@jcarr I would be most interested to hear the story behind the Entré Soltear II and Sato Musen Zen Diamond. I know that the Entré was designed by Matsudaira-San and the Soltear II looks like a variant of the EC-30 with diamond cantilever (oblique cut but different from AT-1000MC). The Zen Diamond is based on the Victor direct couple design by Kanno-San, but with a diamond cantilever with a slightly tapered round pipe (similar to the Dyna 13D). Any insider stories you’d like to share about these?
As an owner of the Final Audio VTT1 turntable since the 80's, which is a phenominal turntable, I have seen 2 versions of the Final cartridge produced for Final by Yoshihisa Mori. One version had a half length diamond cantilever. The other had a full length diamond cantilever like the Sony XL88 Custom.
The XL88 on the Final TT was superb.
I still have a Dynavector Karat Nova 13D that Dynavector has kindly rebuilt for me a couple of times - the current one has a Microscanner tip which improved it considerably in terms of transparency.
I have also seen another Final cartridge with diamond cantilever ( half and full pipe ) with a stand alone body, not an integrated headshell, but I dont think that was based on the Sony.
Dear Jonathan, thanks for your information about the history of this cartridge. Much appreciated! This is the kind of insider knowledge which makes this forum such an invaluable source. Glad you’re still willing to take the time to contribute. The auction ended yesterday at a smidgen under 200.000 JPY and I’m happy to disclose that my Japanese contact has won it! He will send it to me in due course, with an additional (but very reasonable) ’finders fee’ added. I missed out twice on an XL-88D and after Halcro’s glowing descriptions I’m very excited to finally hear the one-piece diamond cantilever/stylus myself.
The integrated headshell is a limitation I’ve learned to live with, with cartridges like SPU, FR7, Entré Soltear II and Sony XL-55 Pro II. I can make all of them sound great in FR-64S and Audiocraft AC-4400, although the collar to tip distance is not the same in all cases (ranges between 49 and 51mm). The spec sheet of XL-44 (with 49mm distance) even claims that variations within that 2mm range don’t impact sound quality. I’ve also noticed that Ortofon is not too meticulous about observing the required 51mm collar to stylus distance for the SPU’s. I’m well aware this runs against the grain of the meticulous P2S alignment methods considered mandatory today, but in practice it does seem to work fine without audible distortion. What are your thoughts about this?
As a good audiogon citizen I will report back when I have taken delivery of this Takai Lab Final MC. I’ve promised myself this should indeed be my - uh - final MC cartridge. Yeah, right 😉
Hi @edgewear Yoshihisa Mori was close friends with Kanemori Takai, and after Mori left Sony, he was involved in a variety of projects, one of which would have been the creation of a cartridge production line inside Final.
FWIW, Final was originally formed by two brothers with the family name of Kitamura; I was friends with them before Takai-san acquired the brand and merged it with his own Takai Laboratory.
Due to Mori-san's friendship with Takai-san, and his high-ranking position within the Sony corporate organization, I believe that Mori was able to obtain special dispensation for Takai-san to use the XL-88D design and suitable components from Sony's parts-bins.
Since Sony by that time was so heavily focused on digital (eventually Mori became the head of Sony's SACD division, and came to be called "Mr. SACD"), the cartridge IP was no longer of much value to Sony.
As you write, the body is that of an XL-44 (the XL-55 looks similar but has a different finger-lift design, among other detail differences). Small scratches reveal the underlying plastic to be of a different color than the metal-blue surface, therefore the color was painted onto the plastic rather than being molded into it (as would have been done for real bespoke production).
The coils appears to be of the coreless figure-8 type, which was the final coil design that Mori-san settled on for its MC designs.
I can't comment about the damper choice, as this is not visible from the photos. However, the damper-to-cantilever matching is one of the key aspects which can make or break a cartridge's sound, and given the size and production volume of Sony's cartridges division, they would have possessed a range of different rubber compounds and shapes. Therefore it wouldn't be a surprise if Takai-san chose a different set of dampers to the XL-88D, and if so, the sound wouldn't have been the same.
Again as you write, the joint-pipe is long and the one-piece stylus-and-cantilever diamond section short on this sample, showing that this used the standard XL-88D configuration rather than following the extreme and costly Custom.
Finally, since the body is of the integrated-shell variety, this cartridge must be used with a universal-type tonearm. The universal headshell connector, although widely adopted for its convenience, has a number of fundamental design flaws will most likely limit the performance level that can be extracted from this cartridge.
Still, this could have been a very interesting purchase. The screwed-on copper top was most likely added to make working on it easier than the molded-and-glued-shut Sony originals.
Too bad the auction seems to have ended (wonder what it ultimately sold for).
Dear @jcarr and others, do any of you have information about the Takai Laboratory Final MC cartridge? Yesterday Hifishark had a Yahoo auction listed of this intriguing beast.
The integrated headshell body looks like a Sony XL-44, but is painted in blue/grey with a copper top plate. The big surprise is that it sports Sony’s unique one piece diamond/stylus assembly. I’m not sure, but judging from the pictures it seems to have a long joint pipe and fairly short cantilever as described by @jcarr, so apparently identical to the standard XL-88D. Could this be considered a worthy alternative to the Sony?
BTW, I recently acquired an AT1000MC. The diamond cantilever has an oblique cut, but the stylus is inserted in a way similar to the Dynavector diamond cantilever assemblies. So not of one piece like the Sony. It does sound terrific though.....
Note that the auction listing on Yahoo.jp <https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/b489057356> is for the integrated headshell version, with a long joint pipe and comparatively short diamond stylus/cantilever. I am not aware of any internal differences between this and the standard, non-Custom XL88D.
As had been written elsewhere, the higher-performance version with a short joint pipe and long diamond stylus/cantilever was also called Custom, but Mori-san seemed to think that fewer than 10 pieces were made.
FWIW, for some time I had the diamond-cantilevered AT1000MC that Raul wrote about earlier in this thread. However, I have no recollection of the cantilever being a single piece with the stylus.
The following link suggests that this was not the case, but perhaps others can look at the third photo and voice their opinions.
Suppose that you or I could inspect that cartridge prior to purchase. What could we learn by inspecting it? Apart from the fact that we could see if it had a cantilever and a stylus mounted on the cantilever, I don’t think we could learn much else.
You could learn quite a bit more with a proper microscope and some patience. I’d inspect the stylus and look for wear, which would be evidenced by "cat’s eyes" on the side of the stylus.
You would need to play it on your own system, in order to have any confidence that you are getting what you would pay for ...
That’s true, but I’d never risk a good test record without first inspecting the stylus of a used cartridge.
Suppose that you or I could inspect that cartridge prior to purchase. What could we learn by inspecting it? Apart from the fact that we could see if it had a cantilever and a stylus mounted on the cantilever, I don’t think we could learn much else. You would need to play it on your own system, in order to have any confidence that you are getting what you would pay for.Of course, that is unlikely to be possible. So, if I were you, I would keep my powder dry.
The elusive Sony XL88D Custom is now offered on Yahoo for the princely ’buy it now’ sum of $3500. This is the one cartridge I would still very much like to add to my collection, but I don’t have the balls to lay out this kind of money for a 40 years old cartridge from an unknown seller without prior inspection.
So it’s too big a gamble, but perhaps some of you are braver than me.....
It's written that it's bobinless XL55 Pro II, so Sony as far as remember used something like plastic hollow football ball in XL55 Pro for aircore. So it was removed and they have used more real aircore in Pro II :) As it goes with less ohms and the output it is the same so better cartridge compared with older XL55 Pro. Although XL88D for me seems advanced version of XL55 Pro not Pro II.
Still no XL-88D Custom on the horizon, but I did manage to pick up an XL-55Pro II. This occupies a totally different sonic universe that the standard XL-55 which I also owned. The output is about the same at 0,2 mV, but internal impedance is much lower at 10 ohms. Stylus profile seems different as well. Perhaps it incorporates some of the design cues from the XL-88 series?
The sonic improvement is so enormous that a mark II model change doesn’t seem to do it justice. Perhaps this is why it’s a bit of a sleeper. At least it didn’t cost me more than the market value of the standard XL-55. 😀
Hearing what this cartridge can do, my curiosity for the XL-88D (Custom) has reached boiling point. Does anyone know more about the history of this Pro II model and how it compares to the XL-88 series?
Yeah, it's always difficult to predict the outcome of auctions. But if there's one - albeit counter intuitive - rule, it's this: auctions that are pretty high up early on often get 'stuck' somewhere, probably because many bidders drop out before the end thinking it will go through the roof. Just as you expected what would happen here.
So, after missing out on the 88D twice, I'm gearing up for a third chance in 2020 on a 88D Custom........ 😉
Unfortunately the timing is all wrong for me at the moment, as I just took delivery of a Dynavector Karat Nova 13D. Yep, also diamond cantilever, but not a one piece cantilever/stylus assembly like the Sony. I don't know if it's down to the (very short) diamond cantilever or other design aspects, but it's in a totally different universe than my Karat Ruby 23RS. It sounds very smooth and relaxed, but with a sense of energy reserve just waiting to jump up on you. Which it most certainly does when the music calls for it.
This is the diamond cantilever of my ex Karat 17DS MicroReach, diamond cantilever length is 1.7mm, the 13D is even shorter (1.3mm). The design aspect explained in the interview with Dr.Tominari and here is the dynavector thread with more info.
I have upgraded to Karat 17D2 and it's still in the box (NOS).
The stylus cantilever assembly of the SONY is pretty much like ADC TRX II with very long metal collar behind the cantilever, ADC however is only a sapphire, but the stylus tip mounting style is state of the art.
It will be interesting to see how much this one goes for Edgewear.....as my one was only up to $1000 with 5 minutes of the Auction to go. This one is already up to $1650 with 2 hours to go...... It does appear to be in superb condition with the Seller claiming about 20 hours use. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it sell for $2500 or more 🤪
Dover may be able to help you with the Dynavector 13D as I believe he had one.
For those lusting for the XL-88D after reading this thread, there's another one up for auction on Yahoo Japan. Also in great shape by looking at the photos. Less than 5 hours to go, more than 40 bids and the price soaring at around $1400.......
Unfortunately the timing is all wrong for me at the moment, as I just took delivery of a Dynavector Karat Nova 13D. Yep, also diamond cantilever, but not a one piece cantilever/stylus assembly like the Sony. I don't know if it's down to the (very short) diamond cantilever or other design aspects, but it's in a totally different universe than my Karat Ruby 23RS. It sounds very smooth and relaxed, but with a sense of energy reserve just waiting to jump up on you. Which it most certainly does when the music calls for it.
It came without the original papers, so does anyone have first hand info about the specifications?
@gallus, you don't know how lucky you are living in Germany when it comes to the prices of German cars. In the flat country to your left a basic Golf costs €25k. I already knew we have a greedy government, but I never realized THIS difference...... :-(
Thanks guys...🤗 Great (new to me) information.... Thanks for the photo of the 'Real Thing' Gallus...from Thuchan's website. I don't know if there would be any differences (other than the integrated headshell) between the 88D and 88D-Custom as there is none between the Sony XL-55 and XL-55Pro (integrated headshell). In any case, I could not use the integrated headshell versions in my WE-8000/ST tonearm as there would be no off-set angle 🥴
@edgewear Well, the SX5000II was priced at around 16000 DM in 1987 and later the very few SX8000II that entered Europe were charged not much more than that (17 or 18k I think). If you consider that the inflation values are irrelevant in Germany since then, we must conclude there is a sharp increase in prices. Please notice I don’t mean there is no intrinsic increase in value, just pointing out the objective price increase. Otoh, a VW Golf is still to be purchased at Micro Seiki prices, around 15k Euros :)
Interestingly, when you put together the price comparisons made in the above posts, you'd have to conclude that a Micro RX-5000 cost about the same as a Volkswagen in the 1980's.
If you look at it this way the price of current turntables doesn't appear so ludicrous after all, despite criticism on current high end audio pricing tactics. For instance, the TechDas AirForce III could be regarded as a modern version of the Micro SX-5000 Air (the more costly air bearing version of the RX-5000) and costs around $30k. I guess this is comparable to the price of a mid class Volkswagen these days, right?
Halcro, Mr. Carr is definitely a much better source than myself, who wasn’t even born at that time :) As far as I understand, the cartridge was not readily available, very hard to get upon special order in Germany. So the price of around 7500 DM can either be the street price to actually grab one or the official price plus taxes. For the sake of comparison, at those times a very good table such as the Micro Seiki RX5000 cost around the same price as the XL88D in Germany (6000 DM).
The ''other model'' was with integrated headshell. This one looks much nicer than ''regular''. Halcro can ask Thuchan for the picture. I am sure that Thuchan owns one.
There is another model and only that model was so expensive, not your sample. J.Carr has mentioned that mega rare limited edition "Custom" only made in small quantities with a price tag like a popular german car, just like i said in the earlier posts here.
Halcro, the XL-88D custom has an integrated headshell, like the XL-55 Pro. There are better pictures that also show the words 'Sony Sound Tec' on the red upper part of the shell. This version may even be more rare than your - uh - 'regular' 88D. I've never seen one for sale, but it's the version I'd most like to get my hands on......
Thanks Gallus, When I opened the 'Contents' on that Link, under cartridges:-
Audio Technica AT 1000 HC68thBoston MC-1H Van den Hul68thDenon DL-1000 A68thDynavector DV-50A68thExcel PROB1 MC68thGloss GMD-10EX68thGold ring 920 / IGC68thJVC MC-5 E68thKiseki Lapis Lazuli1066Mission 773 HC68thOrtofon MC Exclusive68thOrtofon MC 100 Universal392Ortofon MC 200068thSonyXL-MC368th Sony XL88D Custom 68thTechnics EPC-205CMk368thYamaha MC-9
You see it lists the Sony XL88D Custom..... Now I don't know if that means that the 88D was only available to 'Customer Order'...or whether there was another model of the 88D called 88D Custom? 🤔
Halcro, I unfortunately don´t have this issue at hand and it is not online anywhere. You can however take a look at the cover on this link:
http://www.hifimuseum.de/stereoplay-1983.html
That's interesting Gallus.... I had the figure of 7500 DM but that was 'here-say' from the Internet... Is it possible for you to post a Link to that particular issue.....or perhaps some further comments from the article?
@halcro I found by chance some more info about the XC88D. It made the cover of the German magazine Stereoplay in June 1983. It was ranked among the most exclusive and expensive cartridges of the time and it was very very hard to get. The official price was 5750 DM in Western Germany
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