Top Wing Seiryu arrives at Believe High Fidelity

[Believe High Fidelity]

We just announced our Distribution of Top wing in North America. For details about the technology and company you can click here

This baby is a beast. At 12 grams without the headshell it is definitely your garden variety construction. It is made out of Ultra Duralumin vs the Super Duralumin used in the Etsuro Urushi lineup

Here is a side by side comparison.



It is a high compliance cartridge so fortunately our Primary Control Reference handles this exceptional well. It is a shame I can't test out the headshell just yet, but I do have some other plans for using that soon.

Packaging is top notch and showcases the goods like a piece of jewelry. Every cart is serial on the side to prevent the epidemic of carts being sold out of Japan unauthorized (ahem Koetsu).








Should be ready for public demo in a week or two and will add my commentary of its sonic performance to this thread at that time.

 

[Believe High Fidelity]

 

[byrdparis]

Looks very very good
How they compare sound wise to other Japanese company!?
What to msrp?

 

[Believe High Fidelity]

Looks very very good
How they compare sound wise to other Japanese company!?
What to msrp?

Right now they are in another league that what I am used to and I have heard 90% of whats out there. I am counting my lucky stars we were able to acquire the distribution rights. The director is flying in to Axpona so we can drink sake until 4am

Pricing for the Seiryu is 12.5k and comes with the headshell as shown.

 

[gian60]

Interesting,
hope our friend Tang can buy in future,test for us and do some video.

Sometimes i am jocking because all of you are very special people.I am very happy to stay in this forum,thanks Steve

 

[Believe High Fidelity]

Interesting,
hope our friend Tang can buy in future,test for us and do some video.

Sometimes i am jocking because all of you are very special people.I am very happy to stay in this forum,thanks Steve

Tang should get one asap. Can't really stop listening to this cart. It's unreal what this can do.

 

[Tango]

Interesting,
hope our friend Tang can buy in future,test for us and do some video.

Sometimes i am jocking because all of you are very special people.I am very happy to stay in this forum,thanks Steve

Will do my friend. Blue or Red do you think?

Tang

 

[bonzo75]

Right now they are in another league that what I am used to and I have heard 90% of whats out there. I am counting my lucky stars we were able to acquire the distribution rights. The director is flying in to Axpona so we can drink sake until 4am

Pricing for the Seiryu is 12.5k and comes with the headshell as shown.

Hi Joshua, will this be your primary cart or the etsuro? Reason I ask is because I heard the etsuro (no compares) and was very impressed

 

[Tango]

Tang should get one asap. Can't really stop listening to this cart. It's unreal what this can do.

My agent is likely to become their distributor. I will get to try both Blue and Red. I think the Red is only available for export this month. The Red is more expensive I was told, lighter and doesn’t come with a headshell.

Kind regards,
Tang

 

[Believe High Fidelity]

My agent is likely to become their distributor. I will get to try both Blue and Red. I think the Red is only available for export this month. The Red is more expensive I was told, lighter and doesn’t come with a headshell.

Kind regards,
Tang

Oh now this is the Matrix all over again. Do you take the red pill and go into wonderland or take the blue pill and stay safe....?

I am getting both but the Suzaku (red) is not RTS until end of Feb early march. So both of Seiryu and Suzaku adopt the coreless-straight flux
power generation system. How they handle resonance is where the story changes. The system has high compliance but Seiryu's body is heavy and the ultra duralumin has a unique vibration. These means that Seiryu requires special design tonearms like our Primary Control or SAT if you want a more known brand. General high compliance tonearms are a mismatch with Seiryu. Suzaku is more forgiving in choice of arms and lighter, but still high compliance. The unique composition of materials in its design is what drives the price higher and not meant to be a much superior cartridge, but its aspects definitely do improve the sound.

If you had to get one I would hold out for the Suzaku, but based on my listening so far I don't imagine you will go wrong with either given the core technology is in both. My remarks from the manufactures is the Seiryu is fresher and lighter up in the high FR and the Suzaku is more natural and very luxurious in the mids. As far as I am concerned with my initial testing which I still want to wait before posting the ultimate results is that I couldn't sign our agreement fast enough with about 20 hours on the Seiryu. It is going to be a hot seller that is for sure.

 

[Believe High Fidelity]

Hi Joshua, will this be your primary cart or the etsuro? Reason I ask is because I heard the etsuro (no compares) and was very impressed

No such thing for me Ked. The price point puts them in different classes of systems with the Top Wing...well designed to be on Top as an End Game cartridge. Etsuro is a downright bargain (in audiophile terms) and has proven its magic treble time and time again for clients and shows like Audio Exotics. Its sonic character works well for jazz and orchestral music, but there are some that prefer a focus on mids (ie Lyra). I plan to evangelize and continue to promote both equally and where the client sees he wants to spend his (or her) money is entirely up to them.

 

[Believe High Fidelity]

 

[PrimaryControl]

Oh now this is the Matrix all over again. Do you take the red pill and go into wonderland or take the blue pill and stay safe....?

I am getting both but the Suzaku (red) is not RTS until end of Feb early march. So both of Seiryu and Suzaku adopt the coreless-straight flux
power generation system. How they handle resonance is where the story changes. The system has high compliance but Seiryu's body is heavy and the ultra duralumin has a unique vibration. These means that Seiryu requires special design tonearms like our Primary Control or SAT if you want a more known brand. General high compliance tonearms are a mismatch with Seiryu. Suzaku is more forgiving in choice of arms and lighter, but still high compliance. The unique composition of materials in its design is what drives the price higher and not meant to be a much superior cartridge, but its aspects definitely do improve the sound.

If you had to get one I would hold out for the Suzaku, but based on my listening so far I don't imagine you will go wrong with either given the core technology is in both. My remarks from the manufactures is the Seiryu is fresher and lighter up in the high FR and the Suzaku is more natural and very luxurious in the mids. As far as I am concerned with my initial testing which I still want to wait before posting the ultimate results is that I couldn't sign our agreement fast enough with about 20 hours on the Seiryu. It is going to be a hot seller that is for sure.

Joshua, I would like to mention, that the PrimaryControl Reference Tonearm you use is not only available as low mass version but also with higher mass, as it is a custom made design. The same applies to our Gravity and FCL tonearms.

Bernd

 

[Believe High Fidelity]

Joshua, I would like to mention, that the PrimaryControl Reference Tonearm you use is not only available as low mass version but also with higher mass, as it is a custom made design. The same applies to our Gravity and FCL tonearms.

Bernd

Hello Bernd,

How nice of you to join the forum finally and chime in. Glad to hear the options on the Reference allow for more mass. That will certainly come in handy

 

[byrdparis]

dear Joshua,
do you have some more experience and details regarding sound for TOP WING cart and the differences between the red and the blue?
i will love to hear what you think now they must played over break in time.

A.

 

[Believe High Fidelity]

dear Joshua,
do you have some more experience and details regarding sound for TOP WING cart and the differences between the red and the blue?
i will love to hear what you think now they must played over break in time.

A.

I would be happy to give you my feedback and impressions on both. The Suzaku is not officially released yet and that cart will arrive in the next 2 weeks. Once received I will do a comparison and post my thoughts on the performance differences between these two.

 

[byrdparis]

I would be happy to give you my feedback and impressions on both. The Suzaku is not officially released yet and that cart will arrive in the next 2 weeks. Once received I will do a comparison and post my thoughts on the performance differences between these two.

how about the blue for now?
can you describe his sound signature and forte v.s other brands?
thank you very much!

 

[Believe High Fidelity]

how about the blue for now?
can you describe his sound signature and forte v.s other brands?
thank you very much!

The Seiryu is not like any cartridge I have ever auditioned. To best describe how it sounds.... it is the least colored cartridge I have ever heard. That shouldn't mean that much but when you multiply that lack of coloration but 10 or 100 you just get a level of clarity to the music that I have never heard in a cartridge before. It just has so much clean sound that it makes the music sound so much more enjoyable because you really cannot find something about the cartridge to concentrate on and be in analytical mode. You are instantly into the music and jaw hitting the floor because the change is so dramatic.

I had the Etsuro Urushi Cobalt Blue on the arm just before and that cartridge is certainly a top cartridge so to get so much improvement I was not expecting. And when I say there is clarity I don't mean transparency or resolution. If I were to visual this effect it is like taking a photo and increasing the clarity on the photo vs a crop or zooming in effect. Everything is in focus from low frequency to highs and the Dynamics are unreal. Midbass punches so hard and tight you would think you are getting the weight of a sub in a midrange driver. I feel as though the dynamic range is expanded to a degree that the room just disappears and the headroom goes for days.

As a horn guy and running them through the Aries Cerat Symphonia you can't escape any weaknesses because it is like a magnifying glass looking into everthing in your system. Any changes and you will hear it and most times something is traded for something else so you learn the character of the electronics and limitations of the speaker. For the life of me I can't find any signature in the Top Wing Seiryu. Even the first few days I had it I spend almost 9 hours straight until 4 in the morning going through record after record because I was having so much fun not concentrating on critical listening. It has been a long time I can say anything has excited me this much.

I am hoping that once the Suzaku is here there will be differences that I can put my finger on, but for now this is little beauty is making some of the best analog I have heard.

 

[byrdparis]

Joshua,
thank you very much! your explain sound so exciting.
from my understanding, the blue and the red are equal in motor design , cantilever and stylus (they got the same specs also)
just the bodies are different and due to that the compliance and tone arm fits are different in favor to the red one...
im struggling to decide what to get for myself..

 

[spiritofmusic]

It’s times like this I begin to regret being a one tt-arm-cart man, and wish I was more into free love/polygamy etc LOL.