Intro

Le Son is a small manufacturer of turntable Moving Coil (MC) cartridges in Shanghai. The Le Son SL1 MkII cartridge is available online and the company offered us one for review after noticing our multi-test of phono preamplifiers. The review turned out to be a small adventure with a (spoiler alert) happy end.

The tricky thing about reviewing a turntable cartridge is that there are so many factors that affect the sound. The same cartridge on a different tonearm, using a different turntable preamp, can give a completely different experience.

We, Yung and Martijn, dare to review this cartridge because Le Son has clear conditions: you can return the cartridge within 60 days. Marketing aside, you can only afford this as a manufacturer if you are convinced of the quality of your product. So for those seriously interested after this review, the conditions are favourable enough to take the plunge.

During the test period, we were in touch with Le Son’s owner Gregory de Richemond. The support and information were impeccable (pronounce this in French svp). Apart from the SL1 high output cartridge, Le Son offers the LS10 mkII low output MC cartridge.

The pros and cons of a high gain MC cartridge

A ‘high gain’ MC cartridge has the advantage that you can connect it to a ‘regular’ Moving Magnet (MM) turntable preamp and you do not need a moving coil preamp. This allows you to use the turntable input of an amplifier, if the amplifier has a phono stage, or choose a fitting preamp from a very wide range of affordable preamps.

This advantage (in general) also comes with disadvantages: to achieve that high output, the mass of the coils on the cantilever, the rod to which the stylus is attached, is bigger than with a low output cartridge. More mass comes at the expense of the speed at which the needle can respond, which can potentially come at the expense of the openness/airiness and transparency that MC cartridges are generally known for.

Le Son SL1 MkII: as if receiving a present

The Le Son SL1 MkII cartridge comes in very nice wood packaging; it looks like a jewellery box. Care has clearly been taken to transport the product robustly and communicate to the recipient the feeling of holding something beautiful in their hands. But more importantly, the packaging is complete, with necessary screws and screwdriver for mounting and clear instructions on how to adjust the sensitivity and gain of the turntable preamp.

All you need to provide yourself is a good quality pair of pliers with a thin, flat jaw to slide the wires from the arm onto the cartridge’s 4 connection points.

Get everything ready, place within reach and take a deep breath

Assembling the cartridge was exciting for us. We do not do this every day! But with enough time, zen and calmness, a clean and spacious work surface and nerves of steel, we got it done. The Le Son has bolts that screw into the cartridge, so no hassle of clamping the cartridge between two bolts and nuts.