benz ruby

I believe that the Ruby was made in the mid to later 90s, as the next step up after the Reference in the Benz line. I'm not sure of all the technical details, but one big (maybe the only) difference between the Ruby and the Ruby 2 I recall is that the latter is a higher output cartridge. The original Ruby could be bested by the Reference if you didn't have enough gain in your phono section to handle it, while the Ruby 2 is compatible with more phono stages. Perhaps there might be other differences that our other members can point out. Be careful buying older cartridges, as they do age, particularly in the suspension materials.

I think it was 1999 or 2000. You might want to check with Garth at Musical Surroundings. I seem to recall the old Ruby being around .2mv output, a very low number, and why I chose the Reference over it when I bought a Reference in 1998. When the Ruby 2 came out, I auditioned it, liked it a lot and upgraded at that point, and I seem to recall that being in early 2000. Hope this helps.