Soundsmith AIDA MKII Cartridge

Soundsmith AIDA MKII CartridgeDESCRIPTION A triumph of Soundsmith Engineering, Stereophile Class A rated, a rarity at its price point and for good reasons. The Aida MKII employsa laser drilled Sapphire cantilever with ultralow mass Contact Line stylus; we did this to resolve the challenges of playing the inner grooves with the same level of confidence as the outer. How did we do this? The unique stylus shape of our CL stylus has a sharper playing surface on the faceted diamond,

DESCRIPTION

A triumph of Soundsmith Engineering, Stereophile Class “A” rated, a rarity at its price point – and for good reasons.

The Aida MKII employsa laser drilled Sapphire cantilever with ultralow mass Contact Line stylus; we did this to resolve the challenges of playing the inner grooves with the same level of confidence as the outer. How did we do this? The unique stylus shape of our CL stylus has a “sharper” playing surface on the faceted diamond, allowing it to ride easily into the groove modulations of even the most difficult passages and high frequency information that other cartridges simply cannot trace. The result — a truly superb cartridge, surpassing top MC designs with air, focus and sound staging no cartridge at this price should be able to achieve.

All Soundsmith cartridges are available in true DUAL MONO as well.

SPECIFICATIONS

• STYLUS: Selected Contact Line low mass Nude Stylus
• RADIUS OF CURVATURE: 6 x 17 uM
• CANTILEVER: Laser Drilled Sapphire

• RECOMMENDED TRACKING FORCE: 1.3-1.6 gm

• EFFECTIVE TIP MASS: 1.3-1.6 gm
• COMPLIANCE: 22 μm/mN 
• FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 20-20,000 Hz ± 2.5 dB
• CHANNEL SEPARATION (STEREO ONLY): 1000 Hz >30 dB 50-15,000 >20 dB
• CHANNEL DIFFERENCE:  <1.5 dB (Stereo) <1.0 dB (Mono)
• OUTPUT VOLTAGE:  2.12 m V
• CARTRIDGE WEIGHT: 9.2 Grams
• LOADING: ≥ 470 Ω