The Boboli has a rather tall square body,weighing in at 12 G. It mounted easily in the Linn Ekos Tonearm and was aligned using the Linn protractor. Tracking is specified at 1.4G +-.2G. Output is specified at 2mV, enough for a MM phono stage, and its impedance 47K. Although the cartridge body states “Bluenote”, It is really made by Goldenote of Italy and distributed in the United States by Koetsu USA.

Right off the bat it sounded great, with only a little brittleness on vocals which went away after a break in period of about 8-10 hours. Its “gestalt” was very musical, with great dynamics, PRAT, and finesse.

The Boboli plays all kinds of music well. Large orchestral pieces and opera were exciting to listen to, with the singers all over the stage where they belong. Smaller works like piano trios were a joy to listen to with the instruments sounding of the correct timbre and having dynamics that made them exciting to listen to. It rocks out on Devo or AC/DC and lets you hear all of the guitarists playing on Lynryd Skynryd tracks.

I have recently had a Dynavector DV-20XH and Lyra Dorian on my turntable, and neither of these fine cartridges were entirely to my liking in my system; the Dynavector lacked “sparkle” and the Lyra was too cold in the higher frequencies. The Boboli sounds very much like the Lyra, though with much more finesse in the highs. A great all around cartridge at a fair price.

My system:
Linn LP12/Lingo/Ekos on Sound Organisation stand.
Naim 72/HiCap/140
Linn Ninka

Excellent bass reproduction
Accurate mid-range and treble reproduction
Great customer service from the manufacturer regarding email questions

A bit hard to pinpoint proper tracking force - I'd go with 1.4g plus or minus .2g

I purchased a Music Hall MMF-5 turntable from needledoctor and had a problem with the tonearm cable. When I sent it back to the dealer, I decided to upgrade the deck to the MMF-7. I wasn't crazy about the Ortofon OM-30 that had come with the MMF-5 and asked for something else that wasn't so bass shy. The guy at needledoctor then recommended going with the Bluenote Boboli cartridge. This cartridge is made in Italy and looks a bit ungainly with its wide body. However, its sound...WOW! On my table with the Anniversary Ringmat, the bass is quick and thunderous, outbooming the bass from my highly modified DVD/CD player. The midrange is sweet and pure and the treble is accurate and non-fatiguing. Female voices with this cartridge are to die for...Sarah McLachlan, Aimee Mann, and Norah Jones all sound fantastic and as if they're performing in your listening room. At $650, this cartridge is a steal. It is in the top of the heap in the under $1000 level of cartridges as to its performance.

Customer Service

Excellent both from needledoctor and Bluenote at info@akamaiaudio.it

Similar Products Used:

Ortofon OM-30