Do we ever really review a phono cartridge? Or is more that the case that they interview us?
EMT, the company, is about as classic a hifi company as classic gets. Elektromesstechnik was founded in Berlin in 1940 by Wilhelm Franz and the EMT 927 and 930 broadcast turntables are the stuff of legend. In 1959 the company began producing their own cartridges and the TSD 15 launched in 1965 about which Art Dudley said (in his Stereophile review of HSD 006):
The TSD 15 is truly the greatest phono-cartridge all-arounder I’ve heard: It could please the most neurotic, soundstaging-concerned audiophile you’ve ever met, while at the same time satisfying the most discriminating of vintage-audio fanatics (though the latter would surely never admit it).
The EMT HSD 006 is a stereo cartridge, the HSD 025 is its matching mono partner albeit dressed in blue, and is based on the same traditional stereo moving-coil generator as found in the TSD 15. The HSD 006’s red anodized aluminum body houses an aluminum cantilever and Super Fine Line stylus tip you can see riding the blush hued grooves of Adrianne Lenker and Buck Meek’s a-sides mounted to the Michell T8 tonearm on the Barn resident Michell Gyro SE, a thing of never ending appeal in every way.
The HSD 006/025 are EMT’s ‘entry’ level cartridges meant for the home, or Barn, hifi market. As you can see, I’ve already started the burn-in process which involves playing records and smiling. Lots of smiling.
EMT HSD 006 Phono Cartridge
Price: $1795
Company Website: EMT
US Distributor Website: MoFi Distribution
Specifications
Diamond: SFL
Cantilever: Aluminum
Transducer: MC Stereo
Magnet: AlNiCo, nickel-plated
Body: Aluminum, red anodized
Connection: 1/2″ – 4 pin
Vertical Tracking Angle: 23°
Weight: 12g
Tracking force: 2.4g
Output voltage: 1.05mV @ 5cm/s
Compliance: 12µm/mN
Frequency response: 20 – 25,000Hz
Impedance: 2 x 24Ω
Recommended load: 200 – 300Ω
