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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
1,380 posts
 

@audphile1 

Congratulations on your new purchase!

I looked up a review and found The Hana Umami Blue Moving Coil Cartridge Review - The Absolute Sound. In it Tom Martin says

I do have a cartridge that’s effectively in between the Umami Blue and the Umami Red in price. And I think that provides an interesting comparison, and honestly, if you can, a comparison that you ought to make. That comparison is with the DS Audio 003 cartridge

His conclusion, I think, is that the Umami Blue is one notch more analogue in quality, while the DS003 is one notch more analytical.

So we will both be happy (except that I have a balanced input just waiting for an MC and no spare cash)

Cheers

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
7,866 posts
 

Thank you @richardbrand ! I’m very excited…can’t wait. 
Saw that review and it helped with the decision but hearing the Blue sealed the deal. 
This will be my 4th Hana cartridge counting the 2 MLs I had few years apart  

I will post my thoughts after I install it. Should be arriving some tine next week. 

richardbrand's avatar
richardbrand OP
1,380 posts
 

@lewm 

the amount of capacitance "needed" to smoothe out rectified AC voltage into DC voltage is inversely proportional to the final DC voltage that is delivered to the circuit

You are strictly correct, you did not post a formula in full. I took what you wrote to be the same thing as a formula, where the constant of proportionality is not specified.

Unfortunately, it is far from the full story because the more capacitance you add for a given final voltage, the lower the ripple.

Thinking about reducing ripple, I wondered about using a Class A amplifier being fed a constant signal.  The output should be constant voltage, whatever the load.  An over-the-top-solution maybe, but then I remembered that Wilson Benesch use three Class A amplifiers, one for each phase, to power their megabuck direct drive turntable.

richardbrand's avatar
richardbrand OP
1,380 posts
 

@audphile1 

The Hana should have one advantage - straight lines for setting it up!

The only flat surfaces on the DS003 are the top and the back, so there is really only one decent straight line, which makes azimuth and zenith hard to set mechanically angry

Even the front LED has curved sides and the whole thing curves under like the prow of a boat

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
7,866 posts
 

@richardbrand  yep

I’ve been using Dr. Feichert protractor to set up cartridges. My VPI table comes with a good metal protractor that secures at the arm base as well. 
But…if you think the DS003 was a pain setting up because of its shape, I guarantee you I got you beat with the VPI counterweight on the unipivot arm.
That is a royal pain in the a$$ as it’s not only not treaded it’s also bottom heavy because VPI thought it would add flexibility and make it not only a counterweight but azimuth adjustment as well. So to keep me from losing my mind, a Soundsmith Counter intuitive was part of my order. Hopefully it will minimize the amount of bourbon that will be required post install. 

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