Reproducing rich music details from accumulated knowledges of more than 20 years.
"Awakening the souls of artists which were engraved into the grooves". This statement tells that reproduced sound should be natural and honest.
Reproducing rich details along with sweet and sharp sound, out from the knowledges accumulated for more than 20 years in Audio Note.
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History of IO
The sound of silence is the charm of "IO".
The beauty of analog disk is the capability of expression pianissimo (pp). Based on this idea, we push the limit by maximizing the beauty of lowest level signals.
The amplitude of a standard recording sound track (in 3.75cm/sec) is about an average of 50μm. At around -80dB recording level, the vibration amplitude become 0.005μm. A cartridge recovers this micro vibrations into electrical signals.
Needle traces the grooves of the record. Together with the cantilever they tell the generator coils about the vibrations. We paid high attention to the body structure of the cartridge since the cantilever is supported by a unit called the yoke which is fixed to the main body. Connecting everything firmly seems to be a straight forward solution, but considering the vibration amplitude of only a few mircons and the resonance of the body structure, picking up pp is not possible in this way. Therefore we focus on the structure designs of both the yoke and the main body so that inherent resonance will be under controlled and highly reduced. With this structure, music reproduced steadily from pp to ff (fortissimo). "IO"' unique airy and ethereal music presentation is obtained.
Here are the secrets our cartridge. Audiophile appreciations to "IO" is increasing constantly since it was debuted, with especially Europe.
Exciter type magnetic circuit Cartridge - IO-Limited
Debuted in 1982, "IO Limited" is first cartridge with exciter type magnetic circuit. In conventional designed cartridge, back EMF occurs generating (unwanted) signal currents when coil moves in a magnetic field. Removing the back EMF can release more music details.
To address this issue, it is necessary to handle the with EMF more efficiently. Increase the permeability of the magnetic circuit is the solution.
Therefore, we built magnetic circuit using "par mender" which has the highest permeability same as the yoke. Although it was expensive and inconvenient with using an additional power supply, extraordinarily high resolution and a beautiful reverberation were obtained.
The birth of IO-J
In 1997, IO-J was announced to improve the oscillating issue of IO-II. The silver wire used for IO-J was aged for 20 years, with very natural tonal and low distortion characteristics. Moreover, the special design cantilever structure help reproduce music with rich extensions to both sharpness and the sweetness of sound.
