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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?

richardbrand
tcutter's avatar
tcutter
418 posts
 

@richardbrand 

My understanding is that the equalizer has more impact than the cartridge on the sound, hence the stupid crazy high cost of their grandmaster equalizer.  If you’re going to go the optical route, I think you should take fullest advantage of it from the get-go. Hi-fi shark has some options for the DS 003 equalizer preowned. Something to consider. 
 

The only other optical equalizer of which I'm aware is made by Meitner. Anything from him is bound to be good. And expensive. 

richardbrand's avatar
richardbrand OP
1,440 posts
 

@tcutter 

Apparently DS Audio only allows 3rd parties with a global distribution network to list on their site.  There are some small European manufacturers that make equalizers who are disqualified for DS Audio's website.  At least one makes an equalizer without RIAA correction for plugging into a standard MM phono stage.  

The DS Audio range starts with an op-amp based unit and tops out with a two-box solution weighing 40-kgs, more than most power amplifiers!

And so the search goes on ...

lewm
14,707 posts
 

The current output of a LOMC cartridge is best estimated by dividing its output V by its internal resistance assuming zero ohm load, is it not?

richardbrand's avatar
richardbrand OP
1,440 posts
 

@lewm 

Here’s the specifications for the ART-1000X which I think qualifies as a Low Output Moving Coil type.  The recommended load impedance (the input to a head amplifier or Step Up Transformer?) is at least 8 to 9 times higher than the coil’s impedance, so I reckon the output current is about ten times less than your suggested calculation.  The voltage has to drive current through the entire circuit, after all!

Or does the voltage output specification assume the minimum output impedance is already connected?  I don't know, but wouldn't you normally measure the output voltage for the cartridge on its own?

 

Recommended Load Impedance ≥ 30 ohms (when head amplifier connected)
Coil Impedance 3.5 ohms (1 kHz)
DC Resistance 3.5 ohms
Coil Inductance ≤ 1 μH (1 kHz)
Output Voltage 0.22 mV (1 kHz, 5 cm/sec.)
mulveling's avatar
mulveling
2,454 posts
 

@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. 

Are the Ortofon designs (Kontrapunkt, Cadenza, Windfeld, A90, A95) a kind of ring magnet configuration? They also place coils inside a hole in their neodymium magnet. Very different than the more traditional magnet-pole yoke configuration. 

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