Miyajima Labs 1.0 mil Infinity Mono

[montesquieu]

I believe the Schick headshells are also available in wood and some sort of metal impregnated phenolic as well. ( at least Schick made them all in the past...)

Phenolic appeals. I have had great results with my permali-cored plinth and armboards.

 

[Solypsa]

Tbh I am not sure what he is/was using. It was described as 'plinth material' and 'plinth material with metal flakes' as well as the graphite and the wood (bubinga). Does Thomas post here? Maybe he can clarify.

According to the literature of the time the 'plinth material' headshells were around 15g and the oil infused graphite close to 17g...

 

[iaxel]

@Mike Lavigne have you tried mounting the Infinity on the CS Port linear arm?
Interesting to know how’s the synergy.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

@Mike Lavigne have you tried mounting the Infinity on the CS Port linear arm?
Interesting to know how’s the synergy.

i have not tried that. i have not even thought about it to the extent to investigate the compatibility. and the effort of dismounting/mounting/dismounting/mounting the Infinity 'beast' just to 'try it' does inhibit casual experimentation.

objectively i'm guessing it might be a great match, but my 2 Infinity's seem happy where they are.

if i get a 'wild hair' and go down that road i will let you know what i hear.

 

[deardorff8x10]

I just installed the Miyajima Infinity 0.7 with Ikeda 407 arm on Garrard 301. Listening to my dad's old monos, some I have bought over time and reissues. Preliminary feeling after a few hours -- either old monos were really dynamic or the cartridge is just adding some kind of amazing electricity. The sound is amazing and lifelike. Reverb and hall echo add a lot of space and the sound is really natural. I love it and will seek out more mono pressings for sure.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I just installed the Miyajima Infinity 0.7 with Ikeda 407 arm on Garrard 301. Listening to my dad's old monos, some I have bought over time and reissues. Preliminary feeling after a few hours -- either old monos were really dynamic or the cartridge is just adding some kind of amazing electricity. The sound is amazing and lifelike. Reverb and hall echo add a lot of space and the sound is really natural. I love it and will seek out more mono pressings for sure.

great description!

that extra level of life and dynamics from the Infinity does get your attention. the Garrard 301/Ikeda combo perfectly complimentary.

enjoy and congrats!

 

[deardorff8x10]

great description!

that extra level of life and dynamics from the Infinity does get your attention. the Garrard 301/Ikeda combo perfectly complimentary.

enjoy and congrats!

Thanks for your kind words and your initial reports that inspired me to get the cartridge.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

i've been really enjoying my tape lately with my AK Hot-rodded ATR-102's, so tonight i played a 1/4" Tape Project Tape (TP-015) Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane, it's a 'mono' recording, and for some reason it was not doing it for me. i do recall this one was never my favorite tape, but i had an AP 45rpm pressing too, so dragged that out. started out playing it on my NVS/Primary Control FCL/Etsuro Gold/EMIA phono......about the same. nice detail, but lacked life. then switched to the Miyajima Infinity 0.7mil/NVS/Tosca/dart phono......and now we are cooking!

had not played mono vinyl for 3-4 months, own both the Miyajima Infinity 1.0mil and 0.7mil versions, but only have the 0.7mil mounted at the moment. i had to do some adjusting, checking set-up and such. but now i'm playing some other mono pressings i've purchased in the last few months i had not got around to playing yet.

now playing Illinois Jacquet, "Swing's The Thing", an AP 33pm mono. sweet!

can't stop smiling. the Infinity just pulls out so much directly connected pure energy, rich dense tone, and tasty flow. the dart phono is bringing it too. mono kicks ass. got to remember my mono's.

 

[godofwealth]

I just installed the Miyajima Infinity 0.7 with Ikeda 407 arm on Garrard 301. Listening to my dad's old monos, some I have bought over time and reissues. Preliminary feeling after a few hours -- either old monos were really dynamic or the cartridge is just adding some kind of amazing electricity. The sound is amazing and lifelike. Reverb and hall echo add a lot of space and the sound is really natural. I love it and will seek out more mono pressings for sure.

I have the Zero Infinity 0.7 mounted also on a restored Garrard 301 with an SME 312S 12” arm. It sound magical on mono jazz albums, as well as mono popular albums. I recently bought a stash of 30+ Time Life Jazz Box sets, many recorded in the 1930s-1940s. Some sound amazing given their vintage. The Infinity is a large cartridge so mounting it is a bit tricky, especially on an SME head shell.

 

[averagemusicenjoyer]

Hello y'all, long time lurker but first time poster here. Allow me to dig out this thread.

I've been listenig to my mono records with a Hana SL Mono over the past few months and am liking it, but I feel that I can "do better". Also, new, stereo-cut mono reissues sound better with my Hana Umami Red than with the mono cart and I want to change that aswell. I can't do two mono carts (one 1mil and one .7mil), so I need to settle for one of the two. And I really like the idea of the Miyajimas being "true mono" cartridges, with no vertical compliance and only one coil, compared to almost all other modern mono cartridges which are just internally bridged and have the coils rotated.

So, my first question is: Would a .7mil be the better allrounder? My Mono LPs are quite evenly distributed between late50s/early 60s and modern reissues (Speakers Corner, Analogue Productions, Blue Note Classics & Tone Poets, etc.).

The second question, which has been giving me quite a headache over the last few weeks, if not months, is: Is it "safe" to play these stereo-cut monos with the Miyajima cartridges? Since they have no vertical compliance, I've read statements from multiple people in various forums online that these reissues might get damaged with a cart like this. Because - and that's what I don't quite understand - allegedly, on a stereo-cut mono record, the groove - even though there should only be horizonal modulations - might not be of the exact same depth everywhere, thus risking groove damage from the non-compliant mono stylus.

The argument that people make is, that this might happen due to external influences like vibrations or whatever while cutting the record. But I doubt that something like this really occurs in such a controlled environment as a mastering studio. Also, even if this would happen with stereo-cut monos, it should also happen with stereo records, right?. And in that case, you would clearly hear such vertical modulations because, well, a stereo cart generates a current from vertical movement. Right? Unless those supposed vertical modulations would be so small in amplitude, that you couldn't hear them anyways. Like slightly warped records. RIGHT? But then again, wouldn't such slight modulations be easily "nullified" by the vertical movement of the tonearm?

I also couldn't find any reports from people actually damaging their records with these cartridges. Just people warning others to be cautious not to do it. In real life aswell as online. Oh man, I'm confused. Especially, since @Mike Lavigne seems to be playing modern mono reissues with his Infinity with no trouble at all?

I hope you can follow me I feel like I'm terribly overthinking all of this, and the more I think about it, the worse it gets I think this "groove damage" might be nothing but a myth that needs to get debunked.

Anyways, long story short: Can I play my Tone Poet & co. monos with a Miyajima Zero / Infinity cartridge without damaging them or not?


Any input you could provide me is very highly appreciated, I'd love to finally get a clear idea of what I'm dealing with

Thank you in advance and have a nice weekend everybody
Marc

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Hello y'all, long time lurker but first time poster here. Allow me to dig out this thread.

I've been listenig to my mono records with a Hana SL Mono over the past few months and am liking it, but I feel that I can "do better". Also, new, stereo-cut mono reissues sound better with my Hana Umami Red than with the mono cart and I want to change that aswell. I can't do two mono carts (one 1mil and one .7mil), so I need to settle for one of the two. And I really like the idea of the Miyajimas being "true mono" cartridges, with no vertical compliance and only one coil, compared to almost all other modern mono cartridges which are just internally bridged and have the coils rotated.

So, my first question is: Would a .7mil be the better allrounder? My Mono LPs are quite evenly distributed between late50s/early 60s and modern reissues (Speakers Corner, Analogue Productions, Blue Note Classics & Tone Poets, etc.).

The second question, which has been giving me quite a headache over the last few weeks, if not months, is: Is it "safe" to play these stereo-cut monos with the Miyajima cartridges? Since they have no vertical compliance, I've read statements from multiple people in various forums online that these reissues might get damaged with a cart like this. Because - and that's what I don't quite understand - allegedly, on a stereo-cut mono record, the groove - even though there should only be horizonal modulations - might not be of the exact same depth everywhere, thus risking groove damage from the non-compliant mono stylus.

The argument that people make is, that this might happen due to external influences like vibrations or whatever while cutting the record. But I doubt that something like this really occurs in such a controlled environment as a mastering studio. Also, even if this would happen with stereo-cut monos, it should also happen with stereo records, right?. And in that case, you would clearly hear such vertical modulations because, well, a stereo cart generates a current from vertical movement. Right? Unless those supposed vertical modulations would be so small in amplitude, that you couldn't hear them anyways. Like slightly warped records. RIGHT? But then again, wouldn't such slight modulations be easily "nullified" by the vertical movement of the tonearm?

I also couldn't find any reports from people actually damaging their records with these cartridges. Just people warning others to be cautious not to do it. In real life aswell as online. Oh man, I'm confused. Especially, since @Mike Lavigne seems to be playing modern mono reissues with his Infinity with no trouble at all?

I hope you can follow me I feel like I'm terribly overthinking all of this, and the more I think about it, the worse it gets I think this "groove damage" might be nothing but a myth that needs to get debunked.

Anyways, long story short: Can I play my Tone Poet & co. monos with a Miyajima Zero / Infinity cartridge without damaging them or not?


Any input you could provide me is very highly appreciated, I'd love to finally get a clear idea of what I'm dealing with

Thank you in advance and have a nice weekend everybody
Marc

hi Marc,

9 months ago i did move on from my 2 Miyajima Infinity mono's and purchased a Sumile Mono. 3x the dollars and some better. loved my time with the Infinity Mono's and hard to beat unless one spends much more. my reason for changing to the Sumile mono is that with my very spendy high performance stereo cartridges, they were getting so good that they were equal overall to the Infinity mono cartridges on mono pressings. their refinement was enough better that the physical advantage to the mono carts was marginalized. so my need for the mono cartridges was lowered, unless i stepped up my game to the Sumile mono (or other higher performance mono).

to answer your question; the only place where you need to be cautious is playing a modern mirco-groove stereo record is with a 1.0 mil mono cart. for whatever reason micro-grove mono pressings play just fine with the 1.0 mil stylus. and, of course, the 0.7 mil mono stylus is good on anything.

as far as best performance; it's a little more complicated. in my experience a 1.0 mil stylus sounds better on almost 100% of deep groove early mono pressings. especially it is able to have much lower noise. the 0.7 mil is better on micro-groove mono records most of the time.....say 75% of the time. sometimes a stereo cartridge does sound better with later mono pressings. but mostly the mono is better. or different in ways you might prefer.

but unless you play stereo pressings with a 1.0 mil mono cartridge, there is no problem with harming a stereo pressing.

 

[godofwealth]

I use a 0.7 mil Miyajima Zero Infinity cartridge with a wide range of mono vinyl records from reissued mono vinyl to original 40s-50s vinyl. It’s a great all rounder. Never had any issues. Mono vinyl is really head and shoulders above stereo vinyl for dynamics and tonal density. Hearing Coltrane’s sax or Armstrong’s voice or The Beatles in mono on the Miyajima Zero will have you thinking of throwing away your stereo vinyl! Of course you lose left right spatial spread, but stereo in most recordings of this era is fake anyway.

 

[averagemusicenjoyer]

wow, thanks for the swift reply. I'm aware that I shouldn't play stereo records with them, that makes perfect sense to me! So you're saying I should go for it. Great, that's giving me some confidence I guess I'll go for the .7mil stylus Zero then since it seems to be the more universal one. The Infinity probably a bit too pricey and also might be overkill, considering my current setup.

 

[godofwealth]

The Infinity is also a beast of a cartridge. Very large and heavy. It might not fit on all headshells. I have a spare Zero that I bought last year as a spare. I can’t remember if that was a 0.7 or 1.0 mil. Yes, you definitely don’t want to play stereo vinyl on the Miyajima mono cartridges. It will distort!

Here’s my setup. A fully restored Garrard 301 with a 12” SME 312S for the Miyajima Zero Infinity. The other SME 9” arm houses a Koetsu stereo cartridge. Garrard 301s were the workhorse in the mono vinyl era, they have plenty of drive due to the idler design.

 

[montesquieu]

to answer your question; the only place where you need to be cautious is playing a modern mirco-groove stereo record is with a 1.0 mil mono cart. for whatever reason micro-grove mono pressings play just fine with the 1.0 mil stylus. and, of course, the 0.7 mil mono stylus is good on anything.

I'm really not sure this is solid advice. The fact remains there is no vertical compliance in the 0.7mil Miyajimas (any of them), while vertical compliance is how stereo records work - all require some degree of vertical complaince to play what's on the grooves. People may be lucky that damage caused when doing this may not necessarily always be audible, but I know I have damaged records in the past though throughtlessly using Miyajima mono cartridges (0.7 and 1.0) to play stereo pressings. I would firmly advise against assuming you are safe using 0.7 mil mono Miyajima cartridges with stereo records, under any circumstances. The best I could say perhaps is that you are more likely to get away with the occasional accident without obvious groove damage happening.

Indeed I moved on from Miyajima mono altogether (apart from one with a 4.0m tip I use for 78s) in part because of such thoughtless incidents, which weren't all that numerous but did leave me slightly paranoid.

I sold my 1.0 Zero and 0.7 Infinity in the end now use a vertically-compliant MySonicLab Eminent Solo Mono for stereo - mine is an early one with a 1.0 conical tip but it became 0.7 later in its run (there is a shortage in Japan currently of 1.0 tips). This is from the same stable as the Murasakino Sumile Mono (I have the Sumile stereo) same output (and very likely the same engine) as the MSL Eminient mono but with a heavier body and different suspension setting.

To my mind the MSL is on par with the Miyajimas (which I ran for more than 10 years) - there is a gestalt which the Miyajimas possess which I really like, but I feel the MSL digs out a bit more texture and detail. Swings and roundabouts, in an ideal world I'd own both.

I can see that the Sumile Mono might well pip both Miyajima and MSL - I tried to get hold of one when I was in Japan last year, but production had not resumed at that time after the fire back in 2022 at the place that buildt MSL and Sumile bodies 2. Maybe when I'm back there at the end of the year - I believe it's back in production now.

The Miyajimas are a bit more troublesome when it comes to grounding which is not a problem with the twin-coil MSL-based design - this seems to me to be more of an issue with people using SUTs or tubes than with single gain stage solid state phono preamps. I eventually figured this out but had a lot of trouble any time I changed anything.

I can't find the specific information but everything I've read about the Sumile Mono suggests it might use a more exotic 0.65 tip (no idea what) than the conicals in the Miyajimas and MSLs, which certainly would drag more detail from reissues with the narrower v-shaped groove, but could be more problematic with older U-shaped microgroove pressings better suited to a larger, 1.0 mil conical tip. In this Miyajima's strategy in making mono cartridges in both 1.0 and 0.7 sizes is the correct one and while I can't fault the sound I'm getting from my MSL Mono, to some extent I regret moving away from that.

 

[averagemusicenjoyer]

I don't think anybody ever planned to use the Miyajima for stereo records, no? The Question was if mono records cut with a stereo cutterhead are safe to play with them

 

[godofwealth]

One reason to use a true mono cartridge with no vertical modulation is immunity to surface noise. True mono cartridges are more impervious to surface noise than stereo cartridges. Of course, you want to stick to mono vinyl on true mono cartridges.

 

[montesquieu]

I don't think anybody ever planned to use the Miyajima for stereo records, no? The Question was if mono records cut with a stereo cutterhead are safe to play with them

Maybe I read it wrong. The answer to the question you pose is yes. That switch happend pretty early.

One reason to use a true mono cartridge with no vertical modulation is immunity to surface noise. True mono cartridges are more impervious to surface noise than stereo cartridges. Of course, you want to stick to mono vinyl on true mono cartridges.

In a mono cartridge with vertical compliance, the coil orientation (of both coils if there are two of them) is at a different angle to stereo, it only picks up horizontal groove modulation. It's really not the same thing at all as a stereo cartridge simply wired to provide cancellation of horizontal signals.

 

[averagemusicenjoyer]

One reason to use a true mono cartridge with no vertical modulation is immunity to surface noise.

that's a big reason I'd want a Miyajima aswell! I think most other Mono carts you can buy today have their coils rotated, so that only horizontal modulation creates an electrical current, but I feel like having absolutely zero vertical compliance improves this even further.

I mean, I recently bought an OG mono copy of Kind of Blue and Something else for 15 bucks each. They both look absolutely thrashed, but even with the Hana Mono (which has rotated coils, internally bridged) they sound strong VG at least!

 

[dave slagle]

but I feel like having absolutely zero vertical compliance improves this even further.

I would never play a mono record with a cartridge with low or no vertical compliance. At high frequencies where the velocities are the highest due to the riaa curve the pinch effect causes a conical profile to have movement in the vertical plane and if there is no compliance to absorb this movement, you are pitting diamond against vinyl and it is pretty easy to guess which one is going to give.

dave