Stereophile’s Recommended Component 2020 list is now available on the website of Stereophile magazine. We are proud that next to several PrimaLuna’s also our KISEKI PurpleHeart NS is included in this renowned list. Our KISEKI PurpleHeart NS is listed as Class A Recommended Component in the category phono cartridges. Here is why:
“Following an absence from the market of nearly a quarter century, Kiseki’s handmade MC cartridges are back, manifested in two separate lines: New Old Style (NOS), built in 2010−2011 using a mix of old and new parts, and New Style (NS), which are new in every way. The Purpleheart NS is among the latter, and features a metal mounting plate with tapped holes and a solid-boron cantilever with an elliptical stylus. Specs include a 42-ohm internal resistance, 0.48mV output, and a recommended VTF of 2.46gm, in accordance with the Kiseki’s moderate compliance. In MF’s system, the Purpleheart NS produced “rich, supple sound with a tube-like tonality and musical flow,” albeit with “less-than-full expression of macrodynamics.” All in all, MF found the Kiseki to be “a physical and sonic beauty. [It] offers a sophisticated sound well beyond what you’d expect at its price.”
