Soundsmith straingauge
https://www.sound-smith.com/cartridges/strain-gauge-systems/strain-gauge-systems
Impressive everytime I've heard it.
What innovative, unconventional cartridge designs can you recommend?
Most cartridges have a stylus and cantilever where the transducer (magnet, iron or coil) sits on the far end of the cantilever. What other designs are there?
I am mindful of two designs which put the business end right on top of the stylus. The first is the moving coil (MC) Audio Technica AT-ART1000 which places two tiny coils, each 0.9-mm diameter, with eight turns of wire directly above the stylus. Australian price is about AUD-7000 and there apparently is a newer model, slightly less exxe. the ART1000X. This has square coils for a bit more output, and threaded mounting holes.
A downside is that stylus replacement involves a factory maintenance program and the Australian website page describing this service does not exist.
Another design is optical, exemplified by DS Audio's range. While these still need a stylus to trace the groove, the signal is produced by reading the intensity of light produced by a Light Emitting Diode (LED) hitting two sensors. Between the LED and the sensors are two 'shades' mounted above the stylus which change the amount of light as the stylus vibrates. These cartridges need a special "photo-stage" to replace the conventional phono-stage which is an additional expense.
Australian prices including photo-stages range from AUD-2,150 for the DS-E1 to the DS Master 3 at approximately AUD-40,800, which is a bit outside my price range! Where is the sweet spot?
What other way-out designs are there?
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Being in Australia, hopefully you have checked out Garrott Brothers which is an Australian company. The Fritz Geiger Signature stylus they use on their upper models is one of the best, and they offer a complete cartridge rebuild and upgrade program Repairs & Retipping – Garrott Brothers not unlike Soundsmith. Speaking of Soundsmith - there is the strain gauge cartridge - Strain Gauge Cartridge Systems | Soundsmith. Note that DS Audio has shared openly the pre-amp requirements for their optical cartridges and this is being incorporated into other company phono preamps such as Meitner Audio DS-EQ2 Optical Equalizer – EMM Labs & Meitner Audio. |
@pindac The ring magnet design has an interesting history. Originally designed by Eiji Kanda for Sony. Then in the 1990’s Seiji Yoshioka bought the rights to the design and continued to refine it, eventually leading to the dual magnet ring design. Somewhere in the 2000’s Kanda formed Mutech to continue his design. So while a newer company than Transfiguration, it carries on the vein of the original design, Apparently there is no evidence that either man collaborated with each other, with Transfiguration being an independent interpretation of the original design. |
I’m lusting for the W3 AND I have an Avenger table (a sign?). Seems significantly superior to the DS003. The noise floor is lower, magnetic hysteresis is nonexistent, Sonics are neutral. Maybe a used W2 power unit with the W3 cart. |
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