John Darko
In the wake of Rega’s Nd5 – “the world’s first MM cartridge to use a Neodymium magnet” – comes the Nd7. Like its more affordable predecessor, the Nd7 uses a Neodymium magnet to track the cantilever’s lateral and vertical movements but its business end is precision-fitted with a ‘Fine Line nude diamond’ stylus — it’s a stylus profile that, according to Rega, offers superior tracking accuracy and better detail extraction and can only be found elsewhere in its moving coil Apheta 3 and Aphelion 2.
As I wrote in my Nd5 post: “The stylus tip sits in the record’s groove and, as the record spins, the movement generated by the groove pattern (up/down and left/right) moves the cantilever. This, in turn, moves the magnets attached to the other end of the cantilever. And that ‘magnetic movement’ – relative to miniaturised coils fixed inside the cartridge shell – generates the low-level electrical signal that travels through the tonearm wire and interconnects to our phono pre-amplifier.”
From Rega’s press release: “The [Nd7’s] all-new construction was developed over a 10 year period and promises to deliver ‘next level’ performance from moving magnet technology. The design uses a brand-new generator geometry with perfect symmetry to achieve accurate channel balance. The Nd7 also has an optimised pole gap for superior linearity and crosstalk characteristics. This new cartridge is created with miniaturised parallel coils which are wound in-house, utilising 38-micron wire with just 1275 turns. This produces a low inductance, low impedance generator giving vastly improved high frequency response and a notably wider sound stage.”
Each Nd7 is reportedly handmade by Rega’s technicians in the UK, ships in 100% recyclabe packaging and will sell for £450. The Nd7 sells for (effectvely) less when factory-fitted to Rega’s Planar 6 (£1575) or Planar 8 (£2230) turntables. Interestingly, the Nd7 also comes with a lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects.
Further information: Rega
