What innovative, unconventional cartridge designs can you recommend?

@tcutter 

Thanks for your input, especially on the DS003 cartridge and equaliser.  Can you comment on how static affects the cartridge?  There is no electromagnetic pickup to be excited by a static discharge.

Mind you, I am not convinced that static directly affects any cartridge.  I think it is the lumps of dirt that the static attracts.

@audphile1 

looking at the soulnote phono stage and reading up on it. Was wondering how it would perform as both optical and MC stage

Apparently SoulNote was started by people from Marantz’ high-end team.  I must say that I find their product range and website quite confusing!

They currently offer three ranges, the Series 1, Series 2 and Series 3 - let’s call them entry-level, mid-range and high-end.  They are prefixed E.1, E.2 and E.3 respectively.  The E might as well stand for Expensive!  Each range may include equalisers, preamplifiers, amplifiers and other components.

Then there are different versions, which appear as nothing or Ver 2.  So to precisely identify a SoulNote box, you need for example to specify E.1 Ver 2 Phono Equalizer.

The box I have ordered is not on their website yet, and the major difference from the E.1 Phono Equalizer according to their press release is the provision of circuits to support optical cartridges instead of just MM and MC.  That’s a pretty big difference for what just appears to be a mere upgrade.

The high-end E.3 Phono Equalizer only supports optical cartridges and weighs in at 27-kgs compared with the E.1 at about 10-kgs and the E.2 at 20-kgs.  Price is approximately proportional to weight!

But the E.2 supports four inputs, and can switch between them.  Again rather confusingly there is a Ver 2 but there is no information apart from a photo on SoulNote’s website.  Lends credence to SoulNote being a technology-led company, not a slick marketing machine.  All the equalisers carry the term non-NFB which is not explained but seems to mean no negative feedback.

Ken Kessler has reviewed the E.2 Phono Equaliser Soulnote E-2 Universal Phono Preamp | Hi-Fi News - the review was enough to convince me

Cheers, Richard

@richardbrand 

I also do not believe there is any direct noise from static in any cartridge but it does attract dust and other pollutants which become boulders to crash through at the microscopic level. Along with scratches, these can ruin a listening session. Somehow, perhaps because of the relatively light cantilever, etc. assembly, it is less perturbed by debris and skates over/past it rather than crashing through it. Kind of like less unsprung mass in a car allows better overall contact with the road, especially on rough roads. I'm making this up of course, but I have noticed records are quieter.

If there are settings for the bass output, I suggest you start at the highest frequency setting because the bass can be prodigious.

Enjoy! It's different and better, at least in my system. Granted, I was coming from a Monster Cable Sigma Genesis 2000. Revelatory. 

@tcutter 

Kind of like less unsprung mass in a car allows better overall contact with the road, especially on rough roads

Plenty of rough roads in 'Oz!  I am amazed how stiffly sprung most modern cars are, especially with those big wheels.  I'd take a Citroen DS or Austin 1800 for comfort any day, but I am a fan of air suspension.  Offroad, we go for very long travel coil springs and halve the tyre pressures, while hanging on to the Jesus bar!

I think part of the reason boulders are less noticeable with optical cartridges is that the cartridge reacts to position, not velocity.  Riding over a boulder does not change position as much as it affects velocity.

@richardbrand 

and that is why I like ceramic composite brakes because there is much less unsprung weight. Improves the handling.
 

I think your explanation is more likely correct. It does create the signal differently from moving magnet and moving coil cartridges as you point out.