Kiseki Purple Heart NS Moving Coil Phono Cartridge Reviews

4.8 Rating 10 Reviews

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Bill Borremans

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Posted 6 years ago

“The Purple Heart made my speakers stand up and sing ..I play a lot of ECM jazz records ,the bass on these records were alive, I'm still finding records I find parts in I've never heard before . Kevin and Kat thank you”

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Posted 6 years ago

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Posted 6 years ago

“Not sure I can add to what others have said. I run the PH on a VPI Classic 4, Sutherland Duos, a PL tube integrated amp, and Nola KOs. I have been through several MC and MM carts. This one is perfect. It just is. Nothing missing, and nothing unwanted added. Wakes up the entire system. I've run many A/B tests against HiRez files, and unlike other carts, this one almost always wins. One small detail I haven't seen in other reviews: it's pretty tolerant concerning surface noise. My Ortofon 2M Black and my Blackbird were not. I had a Grado Reference that was pretty good with surface noise, but my broke-ass brother now has it.”

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Posted 7 years ago

“I've had the Purple Heart in the system now for about three months. I'm familiar enough with it now that I feel comfortable commenting. It replaced an original Shelter 901. My table is a Linn LP12 with all the latest stuff. The Purple Heart (PH) is absolutely everything you've read about it. My old Shelter is no slouch of a cart, but it was immediately evident to me the PH was a significantly superior performer. The first wow impression I had was the degree of channel separation it achieves. Stunning is a good word for it. One review I read of it called the PH the best cartridge you can buy for $6k, but it costs half that. That reviewer was/is dead-on with that assessment, IMO. I could not be happier with my purchase. It REALLY is all that it's cracked up to be. I've experimented with loading at 400, 800 and 1,000 ohms. After three months of listening with different loads, I've settled at 800 ohms. I think that load presents the best freq response. Thanks Kevin. As always it was a pleasure to buying from you. My LP's have NEVER sounded better.”

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Posted 7 years ago

“i just had to put on my back up cartridge, as my ph got damaged(probably using the zerodust)...i have an amazing back up cartridge....however,it put me back in the dark with my music....incredibly natural and neutral and just a nice relaxed sound my back up has...however,its missing the detail,the resolution..the music in all its glory..my new ph just got installed tonite..ahhhhhhhhhhhh BACK IN THE LIGHT ....there may be a better cartridge out there on the planet earth..good luck with your search......”

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Posted 7 years ago

“Normally when I upgrade into a new cartridge I find myself happy, but always sacrificing something sonically from the upgrade. That is until now. I've very happy to say from the first needle drop that the Purple Heart has sounded better than I ever expected. It's got the perfect balance of detail, midrange and low end that I could ever want in my setup. The response has been better than anything that has been on my table (VPI Classic 3) to date and after around 50 hours of break-in it's settled into what I can only describe as perfection. I will say this is the most expensive cartridge I've ever used, about the same price as my last 2, but I have to say it is twice (possibly 3x) the performance and in my not so humble opinion, worth every penny. It does well for all my music (Rock, Jazz, Blues) and has been the best single upgrade I've ever performed on my system as a whole. I couldn't recommend it more!”

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Posted 7 years ago

“This is an absolutely fantastic cartridge. I've heard a Jan Allaerts, the Dynavector XV-1s, XV-1t and a handful of other top end carts and amazingly it plays in the same league (and in my opinion bests some of them). Easily the best money I've spent on any part of my audio system to date.”

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Posted 9 years ago