Experience with DS Audio Optical Cartridge Systems

@lancelock , My point was not that the DS is "crap" It is not. Novel approaches should always be taken seriously. My point is that you can not trust the press. They have too many conflicting motives.

@tomic601 , The 300 ZX wandered like a lost dog. You could never let go of the steering wheel. My first Porsche was a Guards Red 944 Turbo. I traded the Nissan in on it. Long story but I was offered a deal I could not refuse. I never looked back and since then I have owed 8 911s including a 1996 BiTurbo. The one car I wish I never sold. Talking about a barrel full of monkeys. 

@jperry , You are entitled to your own opinion on how the DS sounds. Here is the gushing review in Hi Fi news that published the lab report I was referring to. You can find reviews where MC cartridges significantly outperform the DS in very basic ways. A wonderful sounding cartridge is not much good if it can't track the record. Most people have no way of correcting the DS's frequency response problem. Those of us with DSP can deal with it. Brighter always sounds better at first listen just like louder sounds better. I think this is why people gravitate to it after a short listening session. By 65 at least 25% of us are already deaf up there above 12 kHz. However, those of us who can still hear up there usually prefer a trailing response above 8 kHz. Boosted 4 dB would be annoying, tizzy. 

I am also concerned about the build quality. The bracket the Cantilever is anchored to is flimsy to say the least.  

@jperry, I will only look at cartridges that can track 80 um or better. My high frequency hearing is not near as bad as most people my age. I have no trouble hearing 16 kHz. The Grand Master would hurt to listen to on my system. I don't have to hear it to know that. It's frequency response curve tells it all. If you don't think so it is because you do not have enough experience measuring and correcting amplitude. My system can correct for the aberrant frequency response but it can do nothing about the tracking performance. Miss tracking is very obnoxious.  What people say it sounds like is of absolutely no use to me. It only matters what it sounds like on my system and with measured performance like that I have less than ZERO interest in spending $60 large to find out. 

I have an idea. Why don't you buy one and tell us what you think.

IMHO the DS cartridges are complexity for the sake of it. It is all electromagnetic energy. The DS cartridge just exchanges some of the weaknesses of MC cartridges for a new set. Remember, it all moves at the speed of light. Light is not easy to contain, it can bend around corners. The shading plate has it's own set of resonances. I prefer to stick with low impedance moving coils and transimpedance phono stages. There are moving coil cartridges that track better and have much lower distortion levels. At 10 kHz the DS Grand Master almost hits 10% and it's tracking is no better than 65 um. Lyra and ortofon cartridges will stomp on it. So why do people like it, two reasons. from 7 kHz the frequency response rises until it is up 4.5 dB at 18 kHz. This is a very bright cartridge which will mesh beautifully with the hearing loss of the older people who can afford to buy it. Next is price. DS audio did everything possible to jack the price as much as possible. The Equalizer and it's power supply are wastefully overbuilt. But, if it costs more it must sound better right? 

I remember back in 1984 I was finally earning a living and I wanted a sports car. The new Corvette was getting rave reviews so I got one. It was pure junk. The manual transmission did not belong in a tractor. The top of the dash was styrofoam covered in black plastic. I sold it in two months and got a 300 ZX turbo.