" Beinharter Geselle - Tonabnehmer Miyajima Shilabe "
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Phillip Holmes:
Now here’s the funny thing: as much as I like the Shilabe, and as much as Robin likes
it, his favorite cartridge is Miyajima’s top-of-the-line mono. He said it was something
like “best cartridge in the world”. Hmm… I can’t argue with something I haven’t
heard. You can look forward to a review of that one then. Besides, a well equipped record
collector should have a mono and a stereo cartridge, ready to roll, when the need arises.
So anyway, the Shilabe is fantastic and a must-audition if it’s in your price range, or
even it you have twice as much earmarked for a cartridge. Just give it a listen and decide
if it’s the right one for you. It’s not unlike picking a wife or husband. There needs
to be a cartridgematch.com.
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Miyajima Shilabe Moving Coil Phono
Cartridge
November, 2008
Comment from contributing reviewer, Paul
Basinski:
Our esteemed editor was kind enough to loan me the Miyajima Shilabe cartridge, which I'm
listening to now in my new dedicated living room deep in the quiet woods of northern
Pennsylvania. It is an extraordinary device. Frankly, it may be unrivalled in the thirty
five years since I mounted my first high end cartridge, a Shure V15 Type III, on my
Garrard Zero 100 turntable. Hyperbole? Not really. This is easily the most refined moving
coil in my acquaintance. There is now a grace and grandeur to vinyl that was obviously
missing, even with some of my better cartridges. The Shilabe digs deep into the music but
in a non-analytical way that I usually find distracting with MC cartridges. It's exciting
to listen to (like a MM), but doesn't draw attention to itself like the latter too often
do. Very quiet as far as surface noise is concerned, the Shilabe definitely manages to
extract far more information than other cartridges without magnifying the grunge on older
LPs.
I've got on a great, but well aged, recording of Harry James and his sweet trumpet sound, and the Shilabe brings him to life beautifully. I just finished playing Sinatra's "September of my Years" on a pristine remaster and it never sounded better. The Miyajima easily sailed through that recording, too. In fact, I was really enjoying the sound of CDs lately on my Cary SLI 80, and yet, with the new cartridge, my LPs clearly sound better. How? In one simple yet crucial way: the Shilabe connects me more with the music. More than the Denon 103R, which is a superb cartridge, but doesn't begin to have the Shilabe's top to bottom articulation of sound. My latest favorite, the Ortofon Bronze is a fun cartridge, but sounds shrill and artificial compared to the Japanese contender. As I've said here before, I am a modest man of moderate means, a college professor who loves to teach political theory and knows how to be tight with a buck. That said, I'm buying the Shilabe. I hope that doesn't mean no turkey for Christmas, Mr. Crachet, but I'll hazard that for a shot at audio bliss.
Distributor's Comment: "I must say that I have very little to add! Mr. Seigel covered all the salient points perfectly. My experience has been very similar with many high end MC's. None quite had it "all" - until the Shilabe. One famous arm manufacturer came in my room at RMAF, listened with his own LP's, and bought the Shilabe, and the Premium Mono, on the spot! I actually think the Premium Mono is the "jewel" in the Miyajima-Labs crown. Since installing the Premium Mono I play 50/50 stereo and mono LP's, which is nice as libraries and thrift shops have great mono music usually for a dollar or two! Again, thank you, Jerry."