Jo No. 8

Founder and CEO Jozefina Lichtenegger stated, "Jo No.8 was born from the desire to surpass Jo No.5's success. There was a consensus among customers and distributors that the design merited more exclusive components, a more rigorous selection process, and ultimately, a superior, though more expensive, precision-crafted body. We were confident this formula would produce an exceptional transducer."

It is important to understand the term "transducer" in order to grasp the design's requirements. A cartridge, such as a turntable/cartridge, is an electromechanical transducer that converts mechanical movements into electrical signals, functioning in the opposite way to a loudspeaker. E.A.T. considers this conversion the most crucial aspect of an audio chain because distortions or non-linearities in the amplification are significantly less impactful than those from the speakers or cartridge.

For discerning listeners, investing more in a high-quality cartridge is justified. The benefits include minimizing distortion and achieving a perfectly flat frequency response, both of which are highly challenging and require meticulous attention to detail and the finest materials. However, that alone is not sufficient. The designer must also know how to harmonize various components—the stylus, cantilever, bearing, suspension, motor, and the body shell—to work in perfect unison.

To expand the already outstanding performance of the No.5, E.A.T. has incorporated a nude Shibata stylus on a boron cantilever, contained in a matte-finished wooden body made of solid chestnut for the No.8 cartridge. A perfect match for the new F-Note tonearm, the Jo N°8 moving-coil cartridge will extract more from the groove than previously imagined.