Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

While the EX700 is equipped with a superior boron cantilever and 'custom line contact' stylus, its response profile [Graph 1] is slightly more extended but otherwise very closely mirrors that of Analog Relax's 'starter' EX300 model [HFN Apr '25] with its alloy cantilever and elliptical diamond. The EX700's diamond is aligned to achieve a 20° VTA but, like the EX300, and even at the higher recommended 2.2g downforce, tracking is sufficient rather than super-secure, achieving 60-65µm via the left/right channels and just letting go at the penultimate +15dB groove modulation (re. 315Hz/5cm/sec) at 1.2% THD. Ideally the tracking force should be reduced to 2g – compliance is a little too high at 14cu, so the black fabric touches the LP surface. The EX700's 516μV output (re. 1kHz/5cm/sec) is lower than the 616μV recorded for our EX300 but then it has fewer coil turns and a lower 4.5ohm impedance. In all likelihood, setting +65dB gain on your phono stage along with a 50-100ohm load impedance will achieve good results.

The stereo HF response [dashed trace, Graph 1] rolls away above 13kHz while the difference in presence band output on vertical (L-R) grooves versus lateral (L+R) cuts [red vs. solid black trace] will emphasise centrally-focused images over instruments and performers ranged to the left and right of the soundstage. For listeners 'of an age' the –3dB to –4dB/20kHz dip will be inaudible. Distortion, meanwhile, holds to a low <1% from 20Hz-1.5kHz [–8dB re. 5cm/sec; dashed trace, Graph 2] while the increase to ~13%/15kHz on lateral cuts [black infill, Graph 2] simply reflects the EX700's more extended response with in-phase (L+R) signals. Treat this one with care... PM