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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
richardbrand's avatar
richardbrand OP
1,402 posts
 

@audphile1 

this phono EQ supports your current MC or MM cartridge?

Yes it does. Both my existing cartridges are MM types

  1. A new Audio Technica VM540ML currently in a Garrard 301 / SME 3009 Series 2 improved combo, and
  2. an old Shure V15 Type III with a new Jico 192-VN35E (SAS/B) stylus currently in my Holbo Mk2 air bearing system.

The SoulNote E-1 can only support one MM at a time - changeover means re-plugging the cables.  It also handles MC cartridges, again, you cannot switch between them except by re-plugging cables.

But from the front panel you can switch between MM/MC and optical, which is all I really want.  When the optical cartridge arrives, it is destined for the Holbo.

The much more expensive SoulNote E-2 does support front-panel switching between four cartridges.  The much, much more expensive E.3 only supports optical, and only one at that.

I have never owned an MC cartridge, mainly because I discovered optical in the nick of time.  At least on paper, optical has lower effective tip mass than even LOMC, and is not subject to compromised noise levels because of Low Output.

But at this stage, I have never even heard an optical cartridge!

richardbrand's avatar
richardbrand OP
1,402 posts
 

@pindac 

Thanks for the German article describing experience with the DS003 and Mr Nixie 'food parts'.  I had to have it translated because my German is not good enough!

I am confused by the initials TOTR.  What do they mean?

richardbrand's avatar
richardbrand OP
1,402 posts
 

@lewm 

In your original statement you did not mention internal Z at all. That’s all I’m saying

Fair enough.  Internal Z is part of the total circuit impedance.

I have only used MM cartridges where the load impedance is around 48-kOhms and there effectively is no current! 

I note that Van den Hul have an interconnect cable with resistance of 26-Ohms per meter which they say is irrelevant.  The cable, based on carbon nanotubes, is the best sounding they make, according to their website.  But would it even work with LOMC?

dogberry
964 posts
 

@richardbrand I believe TOTR is 'top of the range' (top of the line equivalent).

knotscott's avatar
knotscott
1,394 posts
 

I got to hear a DS Audio W3 on Magico S5 MkII with VPI Classic TT and Convergent Audio amp/preamp.  I've the same system with a modified OPPO CD player, which was also excellent, so the system is a big factor, but I thought the DS Audio W3 sounded superb. 

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