Exceptional-Sounding Cartridge with Masterful Musical Presentation: "V-Twin" Generator, Diamond Stylus, Expert Voicing
The key to the otherworldly analog performance achieved by Mobile Fidelity's MasterTracker high-output MM phono cartridge is reflected by its very name: Master, in reference to master tape and Mobile Fidelity Original Master Recordings. Indeed, the Stereophile Class B Recommended MasterTracker is configured to mirror the layout the cutting head in Mobile Fidelity's Sebastopol, California, studio that cuts the grooves on Mobile Fidelity LPs. MasterTracker means you can now track the grooves of any LP with master-quality exactness. Developed in collaboration with Spiral Groove founder Allen Perkins, MasterTracker features a "V-twin" dual-magnet generator comprised of two powerful magnets aligned in a formation parallel with the grooves cut into a vinyl LP. Its form-follows-function physical configuration means it is literally made to live in records' grooves, giving it innate advantages and stunning channel separation few other cartridges possess. And MasterTracker's internal construction and expert voicing grant it exceptional sonic prowess that separate it in its field.
Fine-tuned by Mr. Perkins and Mobile Fidelity, and hand-built in Japan with cartridge housing milled from solid aluminum billet in the USA, MasterTracker traces LP groove walls with surgical precision and stopwatch accuracy, giving you a purist-based picture of what was originally cut in the mastering studio. Equipped with pure Ohno continuous-cast copper coils and a trademarked Micro Linear diamond stylus – shaped just like a lathe's cutting head – this rarified instrument mines the seemingly limitless amounts of information embedded in vinyl's microscopic nooks and crannies, presenting music with grand-scale cinematic scope and three-dimensional detail. Afforded the lightest-weight magnets of any cartridge in Mobile Fidelity's Tracker Series, MasterTracker plays with degrees of openness, clarity, and dynamics normally attributed to moving-coil cartridges. And its well-damped billet aluminum body yields payoffs you'll immediately hear: Unshakable reproduction of supremely complex passages and taut, edge-free bass.
To further ensure MasterTracker stands alone in its class, countless hours were spent removing unwanted resonance and employing next-generaton dampening materials to improve overall performance. Everything about MasterTracker serves the sound – and your music. Conceived in the same studio that produces Mobile Fidelity's world-famous Original Master Recordings, MasterTracker accomplishes what any flagship cartridge bearing the Mobile Fidelity name should: Faithful reproduction of the original master sound.
"With every phono stage I tried, the MoFi MasterTracker proved itself the music-rendering equal of any high-output cartridge at any price."
– Herb Reichert, Stereophile, Class B Recommended Component
"The graininess and lack of low level [detail] that plagues nearly every MM cartridge regardless of price is surprisingly absent here."
– TONEAudio
"It tracked cleanly, and traversed difficult passages laden with deep bass and large-scale dynamics with aplomb. Compared with my own mm reference, the Clearaudio Charisma, it's not as flush with harmonic ripeness and is a little cooler on top, but it's a very musical effort for far less than half the cost."
– Neil Gader, The Absolute Sound
"What a juicy, lively, refined-sounding cartridge the MasterTracker proved to be. ...There was a sophistication to the sound of this cartridge that belied its price and moving-magnet DNA."
– Jason Thorpe, SoundStage! Ultra