Transfiguration Phoenix--First Impressions

I mounted and aligned the Transfiguration Phoenix earlier today, and I've been listening for the last few hours. It was a bit more difficult to mount this cartridge for two reasons. First, it has sort of a large body and a rather small cantilever, so it was harder to see where the tip of the stylus was landing on my alignment protractor. Second, it's a $4250 cartridge, and I get a little nervous when mounting the big-dollar carts. I'm reminded of my Koetsu days, where I nearly had a heart attack every time I swapped cartridges. I busted a cantilever once due to carelessness, and I still have nightmares about having to write the $880 check for a re-tip.

That said, all went well today. My only real obstacle came when I tried to remove the stylus guard from the Phoenix. It's a stubborn little mofo. I wound up calling Colleen into the room; she has longer fingernails.

Once installed, the Transfiguration Phoenix immediately impressed me. The first thing I noticed was that surface noise was significantly reduced. That's one of the magical things about the nicer low-output moving coils, they tend to relegate surface noise deeper into the background so it's less noticeable. My Koetsus did that, and so does the Phoenix.

So what was the first LP I played? My Nautilus Half-Speed version of Ghost in the Machine by The Police. It was the last LP I'd listened to with the Unison Research UN1...just last night. While the Phoenix is going to need about 100 hours of break-in--which is why I have it in the first place--it still had an open, relaxed and effortless feel to it. This is an album notable for the black, velevety silences between the notes (I talk about this further in my next Vinyl Anachronist column for Perfect Sound Forever), and the Phoenix's low noise floor really brought these qualities to the forefront. There's still a little harshness in the upper treble, but this will go away after a few more LPs.

Together with the PureAudio Vinyl preamplifier and the Giro turntable, this is probably the best analog rig I've used for a long time--maybe even ever. As great as my old Michell Gyro SE, SME V and Koetsu Rosewood were, mated to whatever phono stage I was using at the time, this rig is less fiddly and much more solid in both sound and in build quality. Colleen sat down for a while and listened to one of our favorite reference tracks, "Yulunga" from my MoFi pressing of Into the Labyrinth from Dead Can Dance, and she said, "This is the best our system has ever sounded." I agree wholeheartedly.

Transfiguration Phoenix Has Stopped By for a Visit...

It's been an interesting week at CCI headquarters. First we get the PureAudio Vinyl phono preamplifier in for evaluation (and after four days, it's getting better and better), and now I just received a Transfiguration Phoenix cartridge from Bob Clarke. Bob runs Profundo, the US distributor of Heed, Trenner & Friedl, VivA and Transfiguration, and we're teaming up with him, as well as Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio, for the upcoming Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in October.

Even though we're sharing a room with Bob, we'll each have a separate system that shows off our latest gear. Profundo will be showcasing such new arrivals as the Trenner & Friedl Pharaoh loudspeakers and the recently updated Phoenix, and Colleen and I will be showing off the Unison Research Simply Italy integrated and perhaps the upcoming Opera Grand Mezza loudspeakers. It'll be similar to the Hootenanny we had last year at Whetstone Audio, where Bob and I took turns playing music, but we've already agreed to forego the "you've been served" back-and-forth musical challenges.

Here's where the Transfiguration comes in: Profundo doesn't import a turntable (although Bob is very fond of Basis, a US company), and CCI doesn't import a cartridge other than the Unison Research UN1 that comes with the Giro turntable. The UN1 is a fantastic cartridge for the money, but it's basically a $550 moving-magnet. We wanted to up the ante for RMAF and feature a first-class analog rig, so we're pooling our resources and going with a much more ambitious moving-coil. I've been given the job of breaking this Phoenix in. I know, it's a hard job but I'll manage.

I'll mount this tomorrow and give initial impressions in a few days. I'm expecting great things, especially with the Phoenix matched to that utterly fantastic phono stage from New Zealand.

Dan Muzquiz, Turntable Set-up Master

Over the last few days, Dan Muzquiz has been treating all of his Facebook friends to ongoing progress reports--with photographs--of an arm installation involving a beautiful Linn Sondek LP12. A friend of Dan's approached him regarding a Linn tune-up, and one thing led to another--resulting in the sale of a Funk Firm FX-R tonearm and a Transfiguration Phoenix cartridge.

It's obvious from the pictures that Dan takes turntable set-up very seriously. He uses a set-up jig for these installations, ensuring that everything is mounted and aligned in its optimal position. Not every audio dealer goes to these extremes, though they should.

Dan gets plenty of practice ripping turntables apart and putting them back together so that they're better than before. He's currently the sole US dealer for Funk Firm, and their Linn modification kits are extensive to say the least. It's very similar to the new Radikal mod Linn is now offering for more than $3K (the Funk Firm's kit is priced in the same ballpark), and I can't help but think the finished product is a true super 'table. Even this LP12 that Dan is currently servicing probably sounds fantastic.

Suddenly I want one!