The new Nightingale II phono cartridge system is a joint development between Graham Engineering and Immutable Music in Japan, makers of the world-famous Transfiguration cartridges.
Our design goal for the Nightingale II was to make the best possible transducer in a field where there are many fine products already represented. To achieve this goal, we designed several new features, while retaining the use of Immutable Music's Ring Magnet principle, whereby there are no pole pieces or other magnetic circuit components that need coaxing into good behavior; rather, the coil is immersed inside a high flux-density neodynium ring magnet, and all the energy from this most powerful of all magnets is focused directly to the coils.
In the case of the new model Nightingale II, this has been taken to even higher levels, with an increased magnetic strength yielding an output of 0.45mv and 2.5 ohms internal impedance, providing a very ideal low-impedance source capable of driving today's best phono preamplifiers with ease and extremely low noise.
The coils are made of five-nines pure silver wire made especially for Graham Engineering, and used in no other cartridge. The cantilver is solid boron, combining light weight and great strength, while the stylus tip is a line-contact design, tracking at a force of 1.8 grams. We engineered a special generator support assembly, machined from stainless steel, which provides great rigidity and high internal damping for the delicate moving coil mechanism. This assembly is bonded to the cartridge body, essentially making it one-piece, and with the added advantage of dissimilar materials and a junction interface, effectively dampng out residual resonances before they can enter the generator coils.
The cartridge body is specially designed and machined of grade 6061 aluminum alloy by Graham Engineering to reduce external and internal vibrations to a minimum, and also to provide maximum protection for the delicate generator mechanism. (We are not advocates of the exposed-generator cartridge designs for several reasons, including long-term performance, reliability, and safety).
The mounting screw holes are stainless steel inserts that are installed after the body has been machined, polished, and black-anodized. This guarantees secure mounting for the cartridge with almost no chance of stripping the all-important mounting holes of the cartridge body.
The Nightingale II is available is available as a stand-alone model, suitable for use with your present tonearm, or, as an integrated unit, built into a special armwand for all Graham tonearms. This concept offers the additional advantage of optimal matching and pre-aligned accuracy for the tonearm; in addition, the cartridge body is secured into the armwand with no mounting hardware showing and with the cartridge body electrically connected to the shielding system of the Graham tonearm. This provides complete electrical shielding of the cartridge body itself, a unique feature for any phono cartridge, as far as we know.
Whether it's chosen as an integrated unit with the dedicated armwand, or used as a stand-alone cartridge, the Nightingale II will provide a natural musicality, extended response and wide dynamic range that extends the musical experience to a level not heard before in other designs.
The Nightingale is an outstanding product by any measure of comparison; used with the Phantom B-44 tonearm and the IC-70 output cable, this cartridge will provide the most accurate and musically satisfying reproduction of vinyl possible at the current state of the art.
