Extracting More Music from the Groove Than You Previously Imagined
The E.A.T. Jo No. 8 high-end performance moving-coil cartridge will extract more music from the groove than you previously imagined.
In 2018, E.A.T.'s Jo No. 5 moving-coil cartridge raised the bar for affordable transducers capable of high-end performance. Reviewers around the world acknowledged that it was remarkable for a cartridge at its price point. But, they mused, what would E.A.T. deliver with no price constraints?
Now we have the answer! According to founder and CEO Jozefina Lichtenegger, "Jo No. 8 was created because of the demand to go one step further. Customers and distributors concurred that the design was an obvious candidate for more exclusive components, an even more carefully conducted, higher level of selection and – ultimately – a superlative, but inevitably more costly and exclusive precision-made body. We knew that this recipe would result in a wonderful-sounding transducer."
The Transducer is Key
Use of the word "transducer" is the key to understanding the demands of the design criteria, with the recognition that a cartridge is just such a device. A phono cartridge is an electromechanical transducer that converts mechanical information into an electrical signal, working in exactly the opposite manner of a loudspeaker. This conversion is the most important element in an audio chain, because any distortion or non-linearity in the amplification is ten times less than what occurs at the speakers or via the cartridge.
Highest Quality Materials
For the serious music listener, any increase in an investment in a fine cartridge is worthwhile. The benefits include the reduction of distortion to a minimum and the achievement of a perfectly flat frequency response. Accomplishing both is extremely demanding, requiring the utmost attention to detail, abetted by the use of only the highest quality materials. And these are exactly what E.A.T. uses in the remarkable Jo No. 8.
Working in Perfect Harmony
No-compromise materials and components are not enough unless the designer understands how to apply them in combination. The stylus, the cantilever, the bearing, the suspension, the "motor" and lastly, the body shell need to work together in perfect harmony. To elevate the already-exceptional performance of the No. 5, E.A.T. has employed for the No. 8 a nude Shibata stylus on a boron cantilever, contained in a matte-finished wooden body made of solid chestnut.
A perfect match for the new E.A.T. F-Note tonearm, the Jo No. 8 moving-coil cartridge will extract more from the groove than previously imagined.