DS AUDIO GRAND MASTER

DS Audio has released its Grand Master optical phono cartridge. It says that as well as being its third generation of optical cartridges, it’s a completely new design with a different optical system that now uses completely independent LEDs and photo-detectors for the left and right channels. One result of this is that the company has been able to increase the cartridge output voltage from 40mV to 70mV and improve channel separation, including a 10dB improvement at high frequencies, as well as dramatically increase the signal-to-noise ratio.

“The implementation of independent left and right channel LEDs necessitated the use of new shading plates,” said Boris Granovsky, of Absolute HiEnd, which distributes DS Audio in Australia. “These new plates are not only significantly reduced in size, but also much lighter, thanks to being made of pure beryllium, rather than aluminium as they were previously. At just 0.74 milligrams, the weight of the plates is now less than one-tenth that of the generator parts of a conventional moving-coil cartridge.” In order to reduce mass even more, the Grand Master is the first DS Audio cartridge to use a diamond cantilever.

DS Audio’s optical cartridges require a unique equaliser and DS Audio has built a new equaliser designed specifically for the Grand Master along with a completely separate power supply for it that has three transformers, one each for the left and right channel equaliser circuits and the third to deliver power to the Grand Master optical phono cartridge.

Available now, the DS Audio Grand Master optical phono cartridge system, comprising optical cartridge, equaliser and power supply, sells for $82,990 (RRP).

For more information, contact Absolute HiEnd on (04) 8877 7999 or at www.absolutehiend.com