At a time when we are losing many of the old masters of cartridge design and the art of cartridge-building, we are delighted to find a brilliant, young, talented Swiss cartridge manufacturer in the person of Micha Huber. Micha, also the designer of the Thales turntable and tonearm line, has expanded his cartridge production from the venerable EMT products, to a new venture, where he can express his more creative and innovative ideas: Goldenberg. The famous Swiss “Golden Berg,” or: Golden Mountain, which is nearby Micha’s Swiss manufacture, is the stuff of legends. We believe that this new line of ultra-precision phono cartridges will gain similar notoriety in the coming years. While “precision” is the watchword for Swiss watches and phono cartridges, it hardly encompasses the huge musical heart (and art) that these new audio jewels embrace. Here at profundo, the death of Transfiguration’s master designer Seiji Yoshioka and the subsequent demise of the company, seemed a loss which we could never replace. Meeting Micha Huber and hearing these new designs has caused hope to spring anew, that we can finally relax and settle back, deep into the music…

The Classic is a price-performance killer. Utilizing an elliptical stylus on a boron cantilever, the Classic is very coherent and has plenty of resolution to satisfy all but the most fanatical “detail-freaks.” At the same time, tonally, it leans ever so slightly to the warmish side and seems wonderfully forgiving and easy to listen to. It is tailor-made for music lovers with a budget, who might not wish to spend tens of thousands on their analog front-ends, but who still want to hear “the magic.” The Classic delivers the music in a manner that defies it's price. $2450

The Brilliant cartridge is already winning awards, taking home the 2021 Analog Grand Prix award from Japan (a country that knows more than a little bit about phono cartridges...). The Brilliant, with its micro-ridge stylus and boron cantilever integrated into a black-anodizded aluminum generator structure, is surrounded by a three-dimensional machined housing, coated with pure rhodium. It raises the bar with its precise resolution, transparency and clarity, moving into the upper-echelon of performance in this regard. Tonally, the Brilliant is...well...brilliant. It lights up the soundstage with a bit of emphasis and is a wonderful choice for those listeners who want to hear everything; who listen to the great recordings from the 50's and 60's, or to today's amazing new vinyl productions that eschew excessive compression and/or equalization. $4250

The Maestro is just that: the Master. For those who want absolute fidelity to the source tape, to the original performance, the Maestro recalls the ease and naturalness of the master tape, allowing the true music lover to hear everything, yet, with nothing poking out, nothing slapping you in the face to say: “Here I am, I am super-detailed, super-dynamic, super-super...(not exactly natural)!!!” Like the master tape, the Maestro lets you hear what the conductor hears from his podium, with its ultra-rigid, non-resonant, sapphire-jewel cantilever and micro-ridge diamond stylus. These are integrated into a ruthenium-coated bronze generator structure with a three-dimensional machined housing, that is coated with pure gold. $6000