Soundsmith Aida MkII Phono Cartridge

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

The Aida employs a Sapphire laser drilled cantilever and ultra low mass Contact Line solid nude diamond stylus. This configuration resolves 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 in 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.

Specifications

Cartridge Type

Fixed Coil

Stylus Type

Contact Line

Output

High

Available As Dual Coil Mono

Yes

Type: • Fixed Coil / Moving Iron
Mount: • Standard ½”
Stylus: • Selected Contact Line low mass Nude Stylus
Radius of Curvature: • 6 x 17 µm
Cantilever: • Laser Drilled Sapphire
Recommended Tracking Force: • 1.3 - 1.6 g Standard (Medium Compliance)
• 1.0 - 1.2 g (Special Order High Compliance)
Effective Tip Mass: • 0.30 mg
Compliance: • 22 µm/mN (Medium Compliance)
• 28 µm/mN (High Compliance)
Frequence Response: • 20 - 20,000 Hz ± 2.5 dB
Channel Separation @ 1000 Hz: • > 30 dB
• N/A (Mono version)
Channel Separation @ 50 - 15,000 Hz: • > 20 dB
• N/A (Mono version)
Channel Difference: • < 1.0 dB
• < 1.0 dB (Mono version)
Output Voltage @ 5cm/sec: • > 2.12 mV (HIGH)
DC Resistance (DCR): • 680Ω
Coil Inductance per channel: • 190 mH
Suggested Preamp Gain: • 38 - 44 dB
Cartridge Weight: • 9.20 g (ES series)
Recommended Load Resistance: • ≥ 47kΩ
Recommended Load Capacitance: • n/a