Naming a cartridge after a firebird that rises from its own ashes may seem a portentous omen, given Transfiguration's previous success in crafting high-class pickups. So maybe the incendiary title is supposed to serve more as a pointer to a fiery performance? After the revamp of the brand's lineup, this model doesn't have a natural predecessor, by price at least, since it's pitched below the former top Temper model, and above the similarly obsolete Spirit. But at ￡ 1350 it sits neatly between the award-winning Orpheus (￡2750), reviewed in March 2007, and the new ￡890 entry-level Axia,closely resembling the Spirit in body shape. Like former Transfigurations, it uses an unusual 'yokeless' generator inside with ring-magnets surrounding the sets of coils. Unlike the Orpheus, which has a single ring-magnet with the coils intimately located inside, the Phoenix and Axia models use two magnets, placed before and after the coils. When first introduced last year, the Phoenix used two differing magnets, samarium and neodymium, but the current version tested here now uses neodymium at both ends. The cartridge body is a solid-feeling chunk of aluminium, anodised with a smart satin black finish. Stylus profile is listed as Ogura PA measuring 3 × 30pm, and the cantilever - conspicuously shorter than on some MC cartridges - is 0.3mm boron. Overall weight is a low-ish 7.8g and suggested optimum tracking force is 2g, which is how the Phoenix was set up for listening.
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