Audio Note IQ3 Cartridge. Opinions?

Does anyone have experience with this cartridge? I am considering it for my Rega RP6 and Simaudio Moon 310 phone preamp.
Thank you.

 

I bought an IQ3 about a year ago. It replaced my Sumiko Blackbird high output moving coil cartridge. The IQ3 sounds much better to me than the Backbird. I think the IQ3 is better balanced overall with more weight, body, and texture than the Blackbird. It tracks just as well too. The output from the IQ3 is a little bit stronger than most MM carts, and much stronger than a HOMC. You won't need any extra gain in your phono stage with this cartridge.

I have my IQ3 mounted in an Audio Note Arm 3, which is mounted on a Nottingham Spacedeck turntable.

 

Thank you. I appreciate your comment. My local dealer is telling me this is the cartridge I should get.

 

According to this show report it's $980.
http://parttimeaudiophile.com/2014/08/22/cas-2014-keeping-it-simple-with-audio-note-uk/

 

I'm getting it installed this morning at Soundhounds.

 

Until I heard the Audio Note IQ3 at Steve's house, I had been 100% devoted to the clarity, detail and dynamic quality provided by the finest LOMC cartridges into an excellent SUT. But I was absolutely amazed at the extremely resolved and beautiful sound that I heard from the IQ3.

That is not even considering price. For under $1000, and no need to fuss with MC gain or S/N, this cartridge is in a class by itself. Grados, Soundsmiths, Shure v-15s, even the legendary Grace F9E have never sounded this good to my ears.

I know you will enjoy it. Let us know what you hear.

 

I bought the IQ3 a few days ago. I had wanted one of the low cost LOMCs but my dealer kept telling me that this was the one to get. I searched online and could find no formal reviews and only a few mentions on forums. But I went for the IQ3 because I trust my dealer, He has got me into Harbeth speakers, Simaudio amps, and the PS Audio DAC and the result is a system that I really enjoy listening to music on.

This is a wonderful cart. It is a great tracker with excellent tonal balance, separation, and soundstage. As it burns in and keeps improving, I am having lots of fun playing my records, whether rock, classical or jazz, old or new.

 

I have had this cartridge for two months now and it continues to impress me. I had my dealer install it in a Rega RP6 using a Rega 2mm spacer. It is a good fit.

I have been buying records since the mid 60s and this cartridge plays them all effortlessly. The overall sound is excellent. The high frequencies are well extended. Vocal sibilance which affected some of my records is gone. Bass is tight and deep.
I hear a wide, deep soundstage with great instrumental detail. This is vividly revealed particularly on classical recordings.

The IQ3 is an excellent tracker. This is very apparent on inner grooves and records that did not track well. Surface noise is minimized even more than with the Rega Exact, which I thought did a good job.

A friend came over the other day to listen to the IQ3. He has an excellent system which includes the IQ2. We listened to a wide range of music, including records by Steely Dan, Grateful Dead, Joan Armatrading, Pat Metheny, Moody Blues and a classical vocal record. He was also very impressed with the cart, especially the way it reproduced vocals.

This is one of the most expensive MM carts, but for me it is well worth it.

 

Glad to hear it is working out so well.
Don, Terry, Kerry and Paul at Soundhounds know their stuff and are great people.
Enjoy your music and your weekend,
Cheers
–R

 

Yes, the IQ3 certainly punches above its weight. One of the main reasons for it is the fact that it uses exactly the same square cross-section titanium cantilever and stylus tip as Audio Note's most basic low output moving coil cartridge, the IOI (eye oh one.)

Obviously, everything else about the cartridges is quite different, as one would hope, given that the IOI is North of $4k and requires a step-up transformer and an additional interconnect.

 

I'd love to hear your impressions of the Audio Note Arm 3 on the Nottingham. I was thinking of getting an Ace Spacedeck with an Ace Space tonearm. I would love to stay with a MM cart such as an IQ2 or IQ3.

 

Hi nightfall,

I'm not sure what else I can say about it. I got a chance to compare two Space Decks side by side at the store where I bought the arm and cartridge. We compared an IQ3/Ace Space arm on one Space Deck and an IQ3/Arm3 on the other Space Deck. The Arm3 sounded more natural to me, more like real music and less like hi-fi equipment if that makes sense. They both sounded very good to me, but I liked the Arm 3 better. More meat on the bone, better weight and body. (Better texture?) if it weren't for the side by side comparison it would have been a tough call.

We then compared two similar Arm 3/IQ3 combos on two different turntables. One turntable was a Space Deck and the other an Audio Note TT2. The TT 2 took the sound to yet another level of " gee that sounds more like real music and less like stereo equipment". It wasn't a huge difference but it was pretty clear and obvious in a side by side comparison. I was bummed out when I heard that difference because I really like my Nottingham Space Deck. Also, I think that the TT2 is a little bit tricky to use. I'm not a big fan of suspended tables in general but I guess I could get used to using one. The whole thing kind of jiggles around while you are trying to put the needle in the groove.

I will keep my Space Deck with the Arm3/IQ3 (for now) because I am very happy with the sound of it and also because it is a joy to use.

 

Thank you kindly for your very informative response. That Arm3 sounds like a very good match for the Spacedeck, and I'm glad you're getting a lot of enjoyment out of it. It's good that you were able to do a direct side by side comparison.

 

I've been talking to my local dealer about getting TT2 with Arm2 or 3 with IQ3. The price of IQ3 is $775. Pound Sterling has been falling in 2015. Now it's a good time to buy Audio Note gear since their prices in $ are converted from Pound Sterling.

 

Anyone who has experience with VTA for this exelent cartridge? I have heard it should be lowered up 10 mm at the tonearm base.

 

The top of my IQ3, and therefore the top of the head shell is parallel to the platter while a playing a record. Parallel,,, meaning it's about as level to the platter as I can get it when viewing it from the side. The Arm3 itself is tapered, so it is difficult to view the arm as being parallel to the platter.

Once I got the top of the cartridge level, I experimented with raising and lowering the back end of the arm. After a lot of trial and error, I found the best overall balance and best sound when the top of the cartridge was level to the platter. I'm guessing this must be the correct stylus rake angle for this cartridge. If not, it sure sounds right to me.

 

Lowered 10mm from what starting point?

 

Lowering the arm base/back end of the arm 10 mm to get the tracking angle 2 -3 degrees lower (from 24 to about 21). I should give a better tracking. I can't hear any specific difference.

 

You want to adjust such that the stylus sits perpendicular to the record surface and adjust tracking force such that the cantilever deflects halfway between the distance when cued up (under no pressure), and flat against the body.

Why no numbers? Because each cartridge, particularly the hand wound IO mc carts will be slightly different and the proper alignment and pressure will change as the cartridge breaks in and subsequently ages.

 

Wondering if this cart would be a decent match compliance-wise with a Jelco SA750D. Thoughts?

 

Since nobody else has chimed in on this I'll take a stab at it. No experience with the IQ3, but it appears to have a recommended tracking force range of 1.75-2.4 grams which would, generally speaking, put it into solid mid to lower compliance range.

I have owned a Jelco 750D for a number of years and it is a very good arm with quite a bit of versatility due to its fluid damping capabilty. I've run what would call medium to medium/lower compliance cartridges on the Jelco; I currently run a rebuilt Ortofon MC 20 Super which I would expect would have compliance similar to the IQ3 and it works very well on the arm.

So I would expect that apart from using a very high compliance design on your Jelco, the IQ3 would probably mate quite nicely with it.

 

I just want to add that Steve Hoffman is using an IQ3, loaned from Audio Note through my SMAudio dealership. Both Steve and I have been over-the-top impressed with every aspect, particularly overall sound and ease of tracking.

 

It has been a year since I installed the IQ3 and I continue to be very impressed with it and have no desire to change it. It is a joy to listen to my records.