The resurgence of vinyl has been very kind to cartridge manufacturers; Goldring has done very well over the past decade because it focused on high quality solutions that were actually affordable. Its range of moving magnet and moving coil cartridges including the Eroica HX and award-winning E3 are superb performers and legitimate competitors to anything offered by Sumiko or Ortofon in their respective categories. I’ve used the E3 successfully on the NAD C 588 and Thorens TD-160 Super Turntables and am rather excited for the new Goldring E4 which is being introduced next week at High-End Munich 2023.
The E4 is designed to be compatible with all medium-to-high-mass tonearms of the type found on the majority of budget to midrange turntables. And because it’s constructed using the same high-quality core as the other E Series cartridges in the range, E4 is ideal both for those who wish to upgrade an obsolete cartridge in its entirety or those who want to boost the performance of their existing E Series cartridge by replacing the stylus.
What’s different about the new E4?
The super-elliptical nude diamond stylus features lower effective tip mass, improved rigidity and better high frequency detail retrieval than ‘bonded’ elliptical alternatives. The lightweight and superior stiffness of the hollow aluminum cantilever allows the stylus to trace medium-to-high frequencies with greater accuracy.
QED’s Magnetic Duplex Technology allows a more accurate transcription of the stereo groove which results in a more accurate soundstage.
Unlike most affordable designs, E4 allows micro-adjustments to be made during the production process, ensuring each cartridge leaves the Goldring factory with optimized channel balance and crosstalk settings.
New super-elliptical nude diamond stylus
The E4 features a ‘nude’ super-elliptical stylus of just 7.6 x 18 microns (0.3 x 0.7 mil), which is cut and polished from a single homogeneous piece of diamond. This makes for a lower effective tip mass of improved rigidity, which in turn means its ability to retrieve high-frequency detail is dramatically improved when compared to the ‘bonded’ elliptical stylus alternative.
It’s far less likely to mistrack or overshoot when tracing high-frequency groove modulations, and because of the finely polished 7.6-micron profile it can more effectively fit into closely packed inner grooves. Lower distortion, improved transient response and a flat frequency response should translate into even better sonic performance than the E3 that it is replacing as the flagship model.
Hollow aluminium cantilever
To complement its low tip-mass stylus, the E4 features a hollow aluminium cantilever tube. The lightweight and superior stiffness of the material allows the stylus to trace medium-to-high frequencies with greater accuracy, while simultaneously reducing distortion and mis-tracking.
Magnetic Duplex Technology
Stereo information is contained in a single ‘V’-shaped groove that has perpendicular sidewalls angled at 45 degrees. Conventional cartridges, which use a single large magnet interacting with two vertically mounted coils (one for left-channel information, one for right) to extract a stereo signal from the groove, can permit high levels of crosstalk – and consequently only a modest amount of left- and right-channel separation.
The Goldring E4 uses their Magnetic Duplex Technology that positions two low-mass magnets at the same angles as the coils – so each magnet interacts only with its partnering coil. This allows the E4 to transcribe the information in the groove more accurately, and results in greater stereo separation and a more accurate soundstage.
Expert adjustment facility
‘Azimuth’ describes the angle that the vertical centre line of the stylus makes with the record’s surface – it must be exactly perpendicular to the groove. Owners of budget and midrange turntables usually have no facility to adjust the azimuth, so it is very important that the cartridge has been precisely adjusted before it is installed on the tonearm – badly adjusted azimuth can cause increased crosstalk and uneven channel balance.
The E4 is designed to allow micro-adjustments to be made during the production process, ensuring each cartridge leaves the Goldring factory needing no further azimuth adjustment.
Specifications:
- Frequency Range 20 Hz – 20 kHz
- Channel Balance < 1.5 dB @ 1 kHz
- Channel Separation > 20 dB @ 1 kHz
- Sensitivity 3.5 mV (1 kHz @ 5 cm/s)
- Static Compliance 20 mm/N
- Vertical Tracking Angle 20°
- Stylus Radius 7.6 micron (0.3 x 0.7 mil)
- Stylus Type Nude eliptical
- Load Resistance 47 kΩ
- Load Capacitance 100 – 200 pF
- Internal Inductance 400 mH
- Internal Resistance 410 Ω
- Cartridge Mass 6.9 g
- Fixing Centre 12.7 mm (0.5 in)
- Playing Weight 1.5 – 2.5 g (1.75 g recommended)
Price & Availability
The Goldring E4 moving magnet cartridge is available in June/July 2023 priced at $299 / £199 / €259.
The Goldring E4 stylus is available in June/July 2023 priced at $275 / £145.00 / €185.00.
The Goldring E4 cartridge will be on show at the High End Show 2023 in Munich (18th– 21st May) in room A (Atrium) 4.1, F110.
To buy the Goldring E4 moving magnet cartridge and discover other Goldring products please visit www.goldring.co.uk (UK) www.goldringusa.com (US).
The Goldring E4 joins the E-Series family of moving magnet cartridges, including the E1, E2 and E3.
For more information: www.goldringusa.com
