A moving magnet with a boron cantilever and Shibata stylus that has some of the speed and openness of a good moving coil.
The Maestro V2 is the most sophisticated cartridge in Clearaudio's V2 MM range. It shares the range's high-output generator and hand-polished ebony body. It adds a boron cantilever and a Shibata-profile diamond, a fine line-contact shape that traces the groove more closely than an elliptical. Its compliance is a little higher than its siblings', and channel balance is held to 0.3 dB.
Stereophile's Michael Fremer found the Maestro V2 unusually fast and clean for a moving magnet, with a rich, open, detailed midrange. He could listen for hours without fatigue. Orchestral weight and male voices impressed him, and it beat a well-known rival MM for dynamics and slam. A good moving coil still goes further in top-end air and extension. With 3.6 mV of output, it runs into any standard MM input at 47 kΩ. Clearaudio rates it at 100 pF, and your tonearm cable already adds some of that. A medium-mass tonearm and 2.2 g tracking force are the place to start.
| Type | Moving magnet (MM), high output |
| Output | Approx. 3.6 mV (1 kHz, 5 cm/s) |
| Recommended load | 47 kΩ, 100 pF (standard MM input) |
| Coil impedance / inductance | 660 Ω / 400 mH at 1 kHz |
| Tracking force | 2.2 g ±0.3 g |
| Compliance | 16 µm/mN |
| Tracking ability | 80 µm |
| Weight | 8.4 g |
| Stylus | Shibata diamond |
| Cantilever | Boron |
| Body | Hand-polished ebony |
| Frequency response | 20 Hz – 20 kHz |
| Channel separation / balance | 25 dB / 0.3 dB at 1 kHz |
| Also available | Virtuoso V2 (step down); Charisma V2 (step up) |
Pearl Audio is an authorized Clearaudio dealer. Call or visit our Portland showroom to talk about matching a cartridge to your tonearm and phono stage.
