Goldring Electro II Phono cartridge Review

Goldring phono cartridges have earned a reputation for quality and value in Britain, where the company is based. In the past, Goldring has produced conventional moving-magnet cartridges selling for a broad range of prices. Our tests have shown them to be quite comparable with similarly priced cartridges from Japan and the U.S. Now Goldring has entered a new arena with the Electro II, a high-output moving-coil (MC) cartridge rated to deliver 2.5 millivolts (at a 5-cm/s groove velocity) that requires no head amplifier or transformers to be completely compatible with any modern amplifier’s moving-magnet (MM) phono input.

As with almost all other moving-coil cartridges, the Goldring Electro II’s stylus is not user-replaceable (though if the stylus becomes worn or damaged, the entire cartridge can be replaced at a cost substantially less than that for a first-time purchase). The cartridge’s dimensions, mounting holes, and 9-gram weight make it compatible with most tone arms having an effective mass in the range of 8 to 14 grams.

A special feature of the Electro II is its Van den Hul stylus, a line-contact design said to approximate the contours of a cutting stylus more closely even than the Shibata and similar shapes developed in the quadraphonic record era. The advantage claimed for this stylus shape is more accurate tracking of high-frequency groove modulations resulting in wider and smoother response and reduced distortion. The rated frequency response of the Electro II is 20 to 20,000 Hz ± 3 dB, with a channel separation of 25 dB at 1,000 Hz and channel levels balanced within 1 dB.

The equivalent tip mass of the Electro II’s stylus system is 0.6 milligram, and its vertical tracking angle is specified as 20 degrees. The vertical tracking force should be between 1.6 and 2.2 grams, with a 1.8-gram nominal rating. Since it is a high-output cartridge, the Electro II should be terminated in the standard 47,000 ohms, with a load capacitance between 100 and 500 picofarads. The d.c. coil resistance is 77 ohms, and the inductance is 0.2 millihenry (both much lower than are typical of moving-magnet cartridges). The coils are wound with wire having a diameter of only 15 micrometers, making possible the combination of high output voltage with low moving mass.

The Goldring Electro II has a die-cast aluminum structure, and the fit of the mechanical components is so close that no adhesives are used. According to the manufacturer, this very rigid construction results in exceptionally stable stereo imaging. Each cartridge comes with its individual calibration curve and test measurements. Price: $150.

Laboratory Measurements

We mounted the Electro II in a low-mass (8-gram) tone arm for testing and listening. The combined arm/cartridge resonance was at about 9 Hz, a nearly ideal frequency, and it was well damped. All measurements were made with a vertical tracking force of 1.8 grams after we checked the effect of higher forces on the tracking ability of the cartridge. (There was at most a minor improvement at 2 grams, the maximum force available with the tone arm we used.)

Following the manufacturer’s recommendations, we terminated the cartridge in 47,000 ohms and a capacitance of about 200 picofarads. The output was 1.93 millivolts at a 3.54-cm/s groove velocity. We also checked its performance with much lower resistances and higher capacitances; there was virtually no effect on its response other than some reduction of output voltage with resistances on the order of 100 to 1,000 ohms. The Electro II’s performance into a wide range of loads suggests that Goldring recommends a 47,000-ohm load, normally considered suitable for a moving-magnet cartridge, only to emphasize that the Electro II should not be plugged into the MC input of an amplifier. The low input resistance of an MC input would probably have little effect on the performance of the cartridge, but the Electro II’s high output would most likely overload the input.

The Electro II’s frequency response with the CBS STR 100 test record was flat within ± 1 dB from 40 to 10,000 Hz, then rose slightly and showed some irregularity between 10,000 and 20,000 Hz. The overall response was +2.5, —1 dB over the entire 40- to 20,000-Hz range of the record. The channel separation was 20 to 23 dB through the midrange, increasing to 25 dB from 6,000 to 10,000 Hz and becoming uneven in the topmost octave. Frequency-response measurements with the JVC 1007 and B&K 2009 test records gave similar results. The 1,000-Hz square waves of the CBS STR 112 test record were reproduced with only a single cycle of moderate-amplitude overshoot and ringing. This test produced a nearly ideal “flat-topped” square wave with the over-40-kHz ringing that is one of the characteristics of this record.

The stylus’s vertical tracking angle measured 22 degrees. The tracking distortion was measured with the Shure TTR-102 test record (an intermodulation test at velocities from about 7 to 27 cm/s). The distortion readings were around 3 per cent for velocities up to about 25 cm/s, increasing to 6 per cent at the record’s maximum level. This represents good tracking performance since there was no obvious mistracking even at 27 cm/s. High-frequency tracking distortion was measured using Shure’s TTR-103 test record, which has shaped 10.8-kHz tone bursts at a 270-Hz repetition rate. Here is where the Van den Hul stylus seemed to show its mettle, producing a constant and nearly unmeasurable distortion reading of about 0.5 per cent over the full 15- to 30-cm/s range of the record. It is very likely that 0.5 per cent is the residual distortion of the record with our test setup, and this performance has not been surpassed by any other cartridge we have measured.

The tracking ability of the Electro II was checked subjectively with the Shure ERA IV and ERA V “Audio Obstacle Course” records. With the ERA IV record, we heard traces of incipient mistracking at the highest level (No. 5) of the orchestral bell and flute sections. The three-tone test signal of the ERA V was mistracked slightly on Level 3. The high-level 32-Hz tones of the Cook 60 record were played so well at 1.8 grams that we reduced the tracking force to only 1 gram—the Electro II still played without mistracking. The 300-Hz portion of the German HiFi:2 record was tracked at the 60-micrometer level with 1.8 grams and at 70 micrometers with 2 grams. These tracking tests indicate that the Goldring Electro II should be able to cope with almost anything one is likely to find on a record.

Comment

We are not especially enamored of moving-coil cartridges in general, since audible advantages of typical low-output MC cartridges are difficult to demonstrate, while their disadvantages are only too obvious (high price, the need for additional amplification, nonreplaceable styli, often a peak in the high-end response, poor tracking ability, etc.). Most of the MC cartridges that we have enjoyed using have been high-output types like the Electro II. These can combine the best of both worlds: the low noise, extended high-frequency response, and total independence of preamplifier-load effects of MC cartridges and the compatibility with standard amplifier phono inputs and more reasonable prices of MM cartridges.

The Goldring Electro II has all these desirable qualities (we exclude user-replace-able styli from the list of criteria, since MC cartridges with that feature often have other weaknesses in their performance). The low resistance of the Electro II virtually grounds the amplifier phono input, resulting in extremely low noise, even at maximum volume settings, with most well-designed amplifiers or receivers. The sound from this cartridge was as good as we have ever heard.

The Electro II is undoubtedly a very fine cartridge, with a clarity and an effortless and uncolored sound that place it well up in our personal ranking. The fact that it sells for what is, these days, a most reasonable price, is yet another attractive feature.

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