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?
Could be Sullivan's Cove? Sullivans Cove Whisky - Award-Winning Tasmanian Single Cask Distillery. They have a waterfront tasting bar in Hobart which is a wealth hazard. Highly recommended. I have a Cradle Mountain double malt which is even rarer, but I do not want to open it! Cradle Mountain ran out of cash to keep distilling around 2015, and sold off their stock, but have been resurrected since. |
I should explain that my Shure V15 Type 3 came with the Garrard 301 my dad gave me. I'd say that about 100,000 music lovers enjoyed the golden combination of a Garrard 301 or 401 turntable with an SME 3009 tonearm and a Shure V15 cartridge, back in the day. Maybe you were one of them? Anyway, I had no idea what state the stylus was in (I could not even get the old one out) and with lots of advice from this forum, worked out that a Jico SAS/B would be a straightforward upgrade. I ordered one from Japan but received a far inferior model which the vendor was very unhappy about cancelling. Meanwhile I found the Audio Technica (AT) VM540ML complete cartridge cheaper than just the Jico replacement stylus. Since it was one of the very few cartridges to make The Absolute Sound's recommended components list, I bought one. Did I expect the best cartridge in the world? Of course not. But it is hardly entry-level either, for AT. About at the geometric mean, I'd say. AT, as probably the highest volume maker of cartridges in the world, also enjoys economies of scale! At that stage I was not sure whether the vinyl revival was a hoax or not. I am still not sure, but I am giving it a good shot. Then I found a real Jico 192-VN35E (SAS/B) and bought it for sentimental reasons, in memory of my dad. Miraculously the stuck stylus had freed itself in the meantime. @lewm reckoned it would be better than the AT, and I am delighted with it in my Holbo system with the SoulNote Equalizer. Meanwhile the resale value of the Garrard 301 keeps climbing. I am in awe that SME thinks there is a market for new Garrard 301 made out of a mix of old and new parts for US$$37,900. There might be an argument that if you want to climb Everest, you should meander around trying every other peak first. But it is much more efficient to get advice from Sherpas who have been there before. - provided they really have! |
My DS003 Cartridge arrived a few days ago after a slight delay in Customs and an overnight Express Post from Melbourne. At almost A$400,000 per kilogram for the working part, it had better be good! The cartridge itself is supplied bolted in a black aluminium billet, covered by a transparent window held down by four more bolts. I have yet to undo any of these bolts. Also in the package was a New Product Catalogue for 2026, with details of two versions of their record centering system and a full range of mono cartridges. Then comes the DS003 Instruction Manual which lists the supplied items
And an invitation to contact my distributor if anything is missing! I was a bit disappointed that they had not thrown in an Equalizer and power cord, but on the other hand, I had not ordered nor paid for them. There is advice on break-in for my non-existent Equalizer
Is this a case of too much capacitance being barely enough? My SoulNote scrapes by with a mere 10,000-µF, but DS Audio's top Equalizer has about 5-F. There are two short screws and an Allen key but no washers. My little stockpile of stainless steel, titanium and aluminium cartridge bolts are presumably the wrong size at M2.5. It is good that no fiddly nuts are required. Apart from a diagram showing which colour wire goes where, there’s actually nothing in the manual on how to install the cartridge, apart from specifications listing the recommended tracking force. And nothing about cleaning it. Also included are three little cards. The first is an inspection sheet where a stamp in Japanese presumably identifies the tester and gives a pass. The tests are
Then repeat testing
(Do other cartridges include actual test results, like the individual test results for wow and flutter with my old Garrard?) The next card is a close-up photo of the cantilever, stylus and shading plates with the serial number hand-written on the back. Looks well aligned though the diamond tip is too small to really tell. The last card is a thankyou note printed in Japanese and English, to which an addition has been hand printed “Thank you very much. DS Audio Aki”. That is a lovely touch. |
@richardbrand Congrats!!! Just admiring the packaging then? May be a few sips of Laga 16 to unearth some courage and steady the hand? Lol |
I've got to get the little beauty to Canberra first, and doctors in Sydney insist on checking my skin. Unfortunately, not for its shape! So expect a delay of a couple of weeks before those bolts come out ... Meanwhile I spotted a vinyl of the grand re-opening concert for the Sydney Opera House. Mahler 2 with Simone Young. I was there, and if the record is still there on Friday, I'll snaffle it |
