The Funk Firm Houdini, a novel isolation device, has been introduced and is a one-of-a-kind isolation device for turntables. The Houdini cartridge isolator excels at isolating the cartridge from tonearm vibration. This device works well with a high-end vinyl setup and can completely transform your analog sound and take it to the next level. Funk Firm’s Arthur Khoubesserian has been working hard on developing high-fi technology and products since 2005. As a cartridge decoupler, this product is almost similar to Len Gregory’s Cartridgeman Isolator. However, Houdini is much more softly suspended. Reviews of this product are very positive, and those who haven’t experienced the brilliant performance of the Houdini are eager to hear what it’s all about. Let’s take a close look at the performance and key features of the Houdini Cartridge Isolator by Funk Firm. Houdini takes around 15 minutes to fit. It’s available in two variants- Threaded and Bolted. Once installed, you’ll experience a noticeable drop in the noise floor, your bass will be snappier, and the music will be much more well-defined. When you play your tracks with the Houdini installed, you’ll definitely feel a high level of improvement in sound quality and your records will deliver a better sound every time. Khoubesserian also founded Pink Triangle, which is known for introducing several other ground-breaking technologies. Khoubesserian always wanted to develop extraordinary designs that work brilliantly and that’s how he came up with the Houdini decoupler. This happened because Khoubesserian had a clear understanding of what the correct playback conditions should be, thorough research on the properties of cartridge isolation, focusing on the relationship between cartridge and headshell. Many other companies have attempted to produce decouplers. You can see basic spacers offered by Origin Live’s ‘Cartridge Enabler’ and The Cartridge Man’s ‘The Isolator’. These spacers can offer to damp or sometimes combine coupling with isolation. Even a rubber gasket as a method of isolating the headshell and tonearm interface. However, Houdini surpasses all these products in terms of effective isolation. How does Houdini Work? Notice how when you change the arm on your turntable you experience a certain change in the sonic profile. This is due to the properties and effects produced by each arm. When a user firmly bolts the arm to the cartridge, especially if this is not a reference-level arm, vibration transfer can degrade performance. That’s why it’s important to isolate the cartridge from the tonearm. If you want maximum resolution, you need optimal performance at this interface. Houdini offers dynamic stability that comes with a 3-point suspension. It creates a virtual anchor point above the cartridge and uses a torsion tether as the layer suspension, which scrubs back and forth to provide unrivaled isolation in a very compact 6mm deep device. You will be amazed to know that Houdini covers 99% of arm-cartridge combinations with a system resonance in the region of 10Hz. Sound’s amazing, right? Cosmetically, Houdini is basically a small component that is wider than any average cartridge and looks very attractive on tonearm setups. The inter-relationships between the cartridge and the tonearm will be beautifully nullified by Houdini. Houdini outperforms all other similar products in terms of improving acoustic performance while also increasing instrumental separations in complex music.

Cartridgeman Isolator Ive owned this for around ten years before upgrading to a Funk Houdini. I used it with a Denon DL160 all that time. The specially formulated adhesive that attaches the cartridge body (designed to be attached and detached as required) was not as sticky as it used to be when I stopped using it, but if you have a cartridge with a different footprint you may be using an area with unused adhesive. I obviously cant guarantee it will stick your cartridge in the long term, but if you wanted to experiment with cartridge isolation before investing in something more expensive like the Funk Houdini, this would be a cheap way of doing it. However, this is a no return item for the reason given.

This could be a really good idea - I dont know, Ive not tried it - decoupling some of that energy generated by a Deccas barely damped assembly. Got to be worth a try, no? Its in excellent condition, I dont know if it was ever used, it came as part of a late hi-fi dealers estate. Id love to have asked him about it, hed probably have enthused for 20 minutes, that was what he was like. Great guy, much missed. I will probably have a couple of Decca London carts - with adapters and stylus guards - for sale shortly unless the guy testing them decides he cant get by without.... If there’s no Buy It Now price displayed, there’s no Buy It Now price Unless stated, I ship overseas. If the price isn’t shown, please ask If its not shown or mentioned, its not included Please look at my other items _gsrx_vers_1516 (GS 9.3 (1516))