AXPONA 2016

DS Audio's Master 1 Optical Cartridge Debuts at AXPONA 2016

Michael Fremer  |  Apr 19, 2016

The revolutionary DS Audio optical cartridge has gotten a major revision and upgrade both to the phono stage and the internal design. There are now various models, including the top of the line Master 1 shown here.

The improvements are to the micro-optic sensor, the suspension and other components.

The phono stage itself shown here, plus the top of the line cartridge costs a hefty $20,000.

This show report is not the best place to describe the technology in detail. That was covered in a Stereophile review I did a while back. However basically it uses modulated light to produce the electrical output.

Analogplanet coverage of this exciting development can be found here

And here.

The sound produced by this new cartridge is in an altogether different league than what I heard in the produce I reviewed. Of course the price is far higher as well, but no doubt what's been learned and done here can be applied down the line. This is a very exciting development in this product!

COMMENTS
Eskisi's picture
Submitted by Eskisi on Fri, 2016-04-22 18:37

When asking $20K for a cartridge, they should spend 1% of that amount to get someone to fix the web site, its name, the spellings, vocabulary, grammar... It is not exactly good for customer confidence:

http://www.ds-audio-w.biz/?page_id=39

RedMenace's picture
Submitted by RedMenace on Sun, 2016-04-24 10:48

Did you ever live in Boston, by chance? I seem to remember that name. Doing Tech Hi Fi commercials. As Professor Squeeziastics? Or something like that...anyway, back to making the sauce.

michaelj's picture
Submitted by michaelj on Tue, 2016-04-26 20:46

I'm going to have to hurry up and buy one before I change my mind.

X