Clearaudio Jubilee MC

The Jubilee MC is the only Clearaudio moving-coil cartridge with a body made from Panzerholz — the high-density, low-resonance German densified wood product that already anchors Clearaudio’s reference-tier turntables (Master Jubilee, Master Innovation, Reference Jubilee) as their plinth material. Dense enough to sink in water and strong enough to be used as ballistic panel material, Panzerholz is also surprisingly light — the combination that made it the right cartridge body once Clearaudio’s cartridge engineers stopped looking at metals.

Nicknamed the “baby Goldfinger” for how much of the flagship’s character it delivers at a fraction of the price, the Jubilee MC uses the same twelve-finger platform design as Titanium and da Vinci, with tapped metal inserts machined into the Panzerholz for the mounting hardware. Inside sits Clearaudio’s V2.1-generation generator — dual 24-karat gold air-core coils inside a ring of eight super neodymium magnets, driven onto a Clearaudio Prime Line diamond stylus (hybrid parabolic geometry, reduced tip mass) through a solid boron cantilever. Total mass 7.4 g; the Panzerholz adds weight without adding brightness, which is its whole design point.

Its direct sibling is the ebony-bodied Stradivari V2 — same generator, same twelve-finger platform, same cantilever and stylus, different wood. Where the ebony Stradivari is characterised as smoother and more relaxed in its tonal presentation, the Panzerholz Jubilee is characterised as more focused and quicker in its transient response. Neither is objectively better; they are voicing decisions.

Jubilee MC is the right cartridge for an Innovation- or Reference-tier turntable (Master Innovation, Master Jubilee, or Reference Jubilee) paired with the Universal or a 12-inch tonearm. Available on order at LMC Scottsdale — walk in during business hours or book ahead if the audition needs a Jubilee-vs-Stradivari-vs-da-Vinci comparison with your specific turntable in the room.