A number of years ago when a small quantity of Kiseki Purple Heart N.S. cartridges arrived in the U.S. very few people were told about it. After all, they are very limited in their numbers, owing to the Kiseki way of building cartridges. No sample to sample variation in sound. Every one must be perfect.
The word got around. The Purple Heart has been the number one, all-time favorite of Jim Hannon, the publisher and chief at The Absolute Sound magazine. He had worn his out years ago, and tried to have it re-tipped twice by some of the best the the industry, but could not re-create the magic.
When he heard he could get a new Purple Heart, he said “I want one” and didn’t even ask what the price was. At the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, he confirmed that not only was the magic back, but that the new improved Purple Heart NS was even better, saying “A lot of cartridges do great 2D, the Kiseki Purple Heart is 3D.”
"Overall, the Kiseki Purpleheart N.S. is a physical and sonic beauty…In today’s world of crazy-priced cartridges, it offers a sophisticated sound well beyond what you’d expect at its $3,299 price."
MICHAEL FREMER - STEREOPHILE MAGAZINE
"Where the Blue N.S. shines is in the warm-and-cuddly midband. The blatantly nasal vocal delivery retained its wonderfully sleazy quality, especially with the now-questionable ‘Li’l Red Riding Hood’, whichjoins ‘Aqualung’, ‘Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl’ and ‘Sweet Little 16’ as post- #MeToo no-nos."
KEN KESSLER - HI-FI NEWS
Specifications:
Body: PurpleHeart Wood, 30 mm long
Cantilever: Solid Boron Rod: 0.3 mm diameter
Stylus: 0,12 x 0,12 Nude line-contact diamond, mirror polished
Stylus tip radius: 4 x 120 µm
Vertical Tracking Angle (VTA): 20 degrees
Coil: pure iron coil body
Weight: 7 grams
Output voltage: 0.48 mV at 5 cm/s
Internal impedance: 42 ohms
Frequency response: 20 - 30.000 Hz ± 1 dB
Channel balance: 0.2 dB
Channel Separation: 35 dB at 1 kHz
Tracking ability at 315 Hz at a tracking force of 2.6 grams: 80 µm
Dynamic Compliance: 16 µm/mN
Recommended loading: 400 ohms
Recommend tracking force: 2.0 – 2.6 grams
Optimum tracking force: 2.4 grams
