LP Gear CARBON FIDELITY CF3600LE cartridge

LP GEAR CARBON FIDELITY CF3600LE CARTRIDGE — Music that makes you want to listen.®
- Stereophile Recommended Component: 2021 (same class as Ortofon 2M Black ($755 retail), 2m Blue ($236), Dynavector DV 10X5 ($750) .

Since its introduction in 2017, this humble and unassuming cartridge has garnered international acclaim and compared with lofty cartridges such as the Clearaudio Virtuso, Grado8MR and other thousand-dollar plus cartridges. False and Unsubstantiated bravado you think, right? Not so, as actual end-users have attested.

Carbon fiber composites offer 10 times the strength of steel at half the weight. Codeveloped and designed by LP GEAR®, the Carbon Fidelity (CF) 3600LE harnesses carbon fiber technology to advance the state of existing Audio-Technica AT3600 cartridges and all of its numerous versions. The updated design, tight specifications, Twin-Flux™ magnets, high-quality moving system fulcrum and radial damping ring allied with a Spectra elliptical diamond tip produce music that makes you want to listen. Higher fidelity from carbon technology.

Mastered to luminesce against lofty cartridges beyond the economics of most listeners, the CF3600LE touches the celestial gates — and endears the more you listen. You won't want to go back to your underperforming or pricey cartridge.

"I'm listening to the CF3600LE again today and keep on thinking that surely I'll come to my senses and realize it isn't that good, but am surprised again and again that it sounds as "right" as any cart I own, including the (Clearaudio) Virtuoso, a 2M Blue, a heavily modified Grado blue and Shure m97xe."⁶

You'll hear, feel and sense the music exquisitely rendered — harmonically full-bodied, refractive and refreshingly crystal clean with luminous detail spatially radiating with realness. You'll experience remarkable note clarity, projection and nuanced tonal complexity previously unheard and unappreciated. It will surprise and astound.

CF3600LE Phono Cartridge Details
- Type: Moving Magnet VM Dual Magnet Stereo
- Output voltage @ 1kHz,5cm/sec.: 2.5 mV
- Channel balance at 1kHz: 2.5 dB or less
- Channel separation @ 1kHz: over 18 dB
- Frequency response: 20Hz-20kHz
- Load resistance: 47k ohms
- Load capacitance: 100 - 200 pF
- Stylus type: 0.3 × 0.7 mil Spectra Elliptical diamond
- Cantilever: Super Fidelity Carbon Fiber⁷
- Tracking force range: 1.8 - 3.5 g
- Tracking force recommended: 2.5 ~ 3.0 g (set by listening)
- Coil impedance at 1kHz: 2.8k ohms
- Recommended load resistance: 47k ohms
- Recommended break-in duration: 30 hours
- Color: Black, Silver, Indigo
- Weight: 5.0 g
- Dimensions (mm): 30.0L × 16.9W × 17.0H
- Accessories included: Brass screws × 2, and nuts × 2
- Stylus replacement: LP GEAR CFN3600LE stylus

"I just cant get over how impossibly clean and dynamic this cart has turned out, and the background noise is as black as can be. Has a Carbon fiber cantilever with elliptical diamond Lp gear stylus, a cheap AT 3600 style cart. $34.total The cheapest head shell I could find was $12 that came with the cart wires, This was only a "get me by" purchase , until I could get my 100-$150 Grado or Nagaoka I have been reading about for months. Now I am just really enjoying my records again. Really should not sound this good, wanting nothing more than a spare stylus." ⁹

SPECIAL NOTE: Something we've come to know through decades of experience and now shared by a respected reviewer — "What I learned from this unusual investigation is that the difference between a $100 cartridge and a $10,000 cartridge is not nearly as big as I previously imagined. Also, the difference between a $1000 turntable and a $10,000 turntable is much greater than I thought it was.¹⁰

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Footnote 1: Customer Review, "LP Gear CF3600LE review". Footnote 2: Customer Review, "LP GEAR CF3600LE phono cartridge".
Footnote 3: Customer Review, "LP GEAR CF3600LE Cartridge Set".
Footnote 4: Michael Fremer, "Pioneer PL-30-K Automatic Single Play Turntable", Analog Planet, June 10, 2015. The esteemed reviewer compared, evaluated and found the LP GEAR CFN3600LE stylus to offer obvious sonic and tracing improvement as well as lower tracking force for record preservation.
Footnote 5: Customer Review, loc.cit.
Footnote 6: Michael Fremer, "Onkyo's CP-1050 Direct Drive Turntable", Analog Planet, July 21, 2015. The esteemed reviewer recommends the CF3600LE cartridge or CFN3600LE stylus depending on customer preference.
Footnote 7: See attestation at: LP GEAR CF3600LE Review .
Footnote 8: Carbon fiber composites offer 10 times the strength of steel at half the weight. Each producer's carbon fiber differs from those of its competitors, and the processing details are considered to be intellectual property. The special carbon fiber used in the Carbon Fidelity cartridges and styli is patiently and expertly considered for its signature characteristics to bring out the subtleties and finesse of music extracted from the grooves of records and LPs. For carbon fiber info see: "The making of carbon fiber".
Footnote 9: See attestation at: Budget, over achiever Cartridges. .
Footnote 10: See Sterephile article at: Gramophone Dreams #44: Audio-Technica, Goldring, LP Gear phono cartridges. .


LP Gear Music listening equipment: Graham Slee Reflex M phono preamp, Graham Slee Elevator EXP headamp, Denon AU-300LC Step-up transformer, Graham Slee Proprius mono amps, Quicksilver Silver 88 mono amps, Roadrunner Digital Turntable Tachometer, Sota Sapphire turntable, Audience SE Phono Cable, Audience Ohno speaker cables, Rogers LS3/5A speakers, Audience ClairAudient 1+1 Loudspeakers, Krell LAT 2 speakers, Yamaha NS1000M speakers, LP Gear CF3600LE cartridge, Ortofon 2M Red cartridge, Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge, Ortofon 2M Bronze cartridge, Rega Carbon, Supex SD 901 Super cartridge, Denon DL-103 cartridge, Denon DL-110 cartridge, Grace F-9E cartridge.