Panasonic - Matsushita/Panasonic EPC-450C-II 4-channel element. Turntable cartridge with stylus

This is a rare Matsushita/Panasonic EPC-450C-II 4-channel cartridge and accompanying hardware, including the original box. The depicted EPC-450C-II is only lightly used. It comes with an original Panasonic EPS-451QD (red) stylus with a naked-mounted Shitaba-style diamond, specially polished for tracing CD-4 records. It has an impressive frequency response of 10 Hz - 50 kHz, tracks with a weight of 1.7-2.3 grams, and weighs 3.8 grams. This EPC-450C-II is unique because it was packaged as a cartridge replacement set, meaning it also includes mounting hardware, all in the original aluminum box. The EPC-450C-II is an early strain gauge semiconductor disc transducer electret capacitor cartridge, based on a technology that is very different from conventional cartridges; therefore, this element requires a Panasonic or Technics CD-4 demodulator, which supplies voltage to the element, reads the output, and divides the discrete signal into four channels. This item is no longer sold by Matsushita/Panasonic, making it a rare collector's item, complete with the original packaging.