Now you're talking! Do you have a build thread on another forum by any chance? Very interested in this. Thanks!
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?
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Personally, I am much more interested in the capacitor technology! 2 Farads is comparable to DS Audio’s higher-end Equalizers. With the custom capacitors they use, this much capacitance weighs about 20-kgs. The less the separation between the capacitor 'plates', the greater the capacitance but also the greater the risk of leakage and premature failure. Mr. Nixie claims similar capacitance in a much lighter package, if I am reading the specifications correctly. As for the transformer rating, their most expensive Equalizer uses three transformers, but I have not been able to discover their VA rating. My SoulNote Equalizer scrapes by with
260-VA, on paper at least, is ten times overkill for a unit that consumes 24-Watts, given that Watts approximates VA. Earlier in this thread you posted calculations giving the capacitance required to smooth various output voltages. With respect, your formulae did not factor in the acceptable ripple level on the output. Adding more capacitance asymptotically reduces ripple and in that sense you are only subject to the law of diminishing returns in terms of cost, weight, volume. Also, the more current extracted from the power supply, the greater the ripple will be. So overkill is good. *Non-NFB means negative feedback is not used |
How’s the new cartridge doing @richardbrand Any changes while it’s breaking in? |
Unfortunately for my audio pleasure, I have been back in Sydney since Sunday so no further progress on the break in to report. At least, I did not break it during installation. The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that the low noise floor and muted reaction to record imperfections like tics, pops, crackles and scratches are a singular property of DS Audio cartridges. But I am not used to LOMC. Looking forward to hearing from @rajugsw on this. Meanwhile from HFN-Oct-DS-Audio-Grand-Master-Extreme_Reprint-LOW.pdf
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