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?
I think it is safe to play them with a stereo cartridge, though whether they will sound as good as the stereo versions I do not know. I have read that quadraphonic LPs encoded with RCA's CD-4 system must be played with a Shibata stylus, as other sylus shapes can damage the subcarrier modulations. I had no idea quadraphonic versions were ever released of those symphonies. Must be relatively rare. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable about quadraphonic disks can chime in? |
I now have a delivery update for my DS Audio optical cartridge. It should leave Japan on Feb 13 bound for Melbourne on boat or plane. Then maybe an Afghan camel train will head northward. (Oh, the Afghan camel trains, which opened up the outback, stopped once the real train reached Alice Springs. The camels were let free to roam, and there are now over a million of them. You are more likely to get bitten by a camel than any other nasties, such as crocodiles, sharks, spiders, jellyfish and snakes) |
@richardbrand you forgot the kangaroos that box like Mike Tyson and kick like a mule. Congrats on the progress with the cartridge…finally! |
A lady friend of mine was badly beaten up by a big 'roo in her own suburban Canberra backyard. Ferocious. So was the 'roo. I can't think of much more frightening than having a big 'roo go through your windscreen and survive, literally alive and kicking |
