The medium-output Zebra Wood: Benz Micro's warm, sweet iron-cross moving coil, built for phono stages with moderate gain.
The Zebra Wood was the first new Benz Micro cartridge in over a decade, and it follows the long-running Wood SL. It combines the zebra wood body of the Ruby Z with the iron-cross generator of the Wood series. Zebra wood is denser than the wood Benz used before, and the vented, machined body helps control resonance. Inside, a 0.28 mm solid boron cantilever carries a mirror-polished nude line-contact diamond. Each one is hand-built in Switzerland. The Zebra M is the medium-output version, at 0.8 mV.
The iron-cross generator gives the Zebra Wood the warm, sweet tonal balance Benz is known for. It is an easy cartridge to live with across many systems and kinds of music. The M's extra output makes it a good match for MC phono stages and tube stages with moderate gain, where a 0.4 mV cartridge would be short on gain. Loading is flexible, from 100 Ω up. It works best in a medium- to high-mass tonearm.
| Type | Medium-output moving coil (MC), iron-cross generator |
| Output | 0.8 mV (3.54 cm/s) |
| Internal impedance | 24 Ω |
| Recommended load | 100–47,000 Ω |
| Tracking force | 1.7–2.0 g (1.7–1.8 g optimum) |
| Dynamic compliance | 15 µm/mN |
| Tracking ability | 80 µm at 315 Hz, 2 g |
| Weight | 9.6 g |
| Stylus | Nude line-contact diamond, mirror polished (3 × 60 µm) |
| Cantilever | Solid boron rod, 0.28 mm |
| Body | Vented machined zebra wood |
| Frequency response | 20 Hz – 20 kHz ±1 dB |
| Channel separation / balance | >35 dB at 1 kHz / <0.5 dB |
| Recommended tonearm | Medium to high mass |
| Also available | Zebra L (0.4 mV) and Zebra H (2.5 mV) |
Note: photo of Zebra L shown.
Pearl Audio is an authorized Benz Micro dealer. Call or visit our Portland showroom to talk about matching a cartridge to your tonearm and phono stage.
