AIDA MKII

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

The Aida MKII employs a laser drilled Sapphire cantilever with ultra-low 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.

The Aida cartridge is a Stereophile A-rated cartridge, meaning it is in the "price is no object" category and was the cheapest cartridge there.

Soundsmith carefully hand-builds every cartridge, tests them, and keeps accurate records by serial number of their performance. Those that meet or exceed specifications are sold, and the ones that don't are broken down and recycled. 

Soundsmith took moving iron technology and perfected it. This design offers lower effective moving mass, causing the stylus to stay in better contact with the groove walls. High-gain moving coil preamps are not required, as the Aida is designed to be used with a moving magnet preamp.

New EM Series DEMS Design

What is DEMS??

“Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover.” – Peter Ledermann.

2018’s RMAF show was the official launch of Soundsmith’s new ES series of cartridges, where the attendees experienced the latest exploration into overlooked areas of cartridge design and solutions from Soundsmith.

The ES line features not only a dramatic new look, but is a significant evolution of the DEMS system design (Dynamic Energy Management System). The new Soundsmith ES cartridge designs are a significant advancement in cartridge performance due to their ability to direct internal vibrational forces without reflection and disperse them properly to the tone arm. The absence of reflections enables the stylus to stay in far greater statistical contact with the groove walls — a critically important technical refinement. Increased liquidity and reduced “grain,” without loss of detail are some of the immediately discernible advantages of Soundsmith’s new ES models.

The new line also features Azimuth adjustment built-in to each cartridge, as well as the option for electrical isolation for hum-prone systems. (see picture below)

Every cartridge in Soundsmith’s lineup will now feature our sleek new ES body design. The upgrade is far more than cosmetic; the new shape is a departure from the reflective and “boxy” design of many cartridges whose internal construction contribute to uncontrolled vibrational issues adversely affecting performance. Peter says, “Think of how singing in an open field compares with singing in a shower.” Soundsmith has always challenged conventions, looking deeper into nuances of cartridge design that dramatically affect immediate and long term performance. These have included extreme reductions of moving mass and the use of novel materials and designs. The new ES lineup is a continuation of that research and development.

ES Series Mounting

The new ES has some special mounting features that you need to be aware of.

Sometimes when mounting on a grounded metal arm, a cartridge will create hum due to a ground loop. If you experience some low level hum due to ground loop, you can now solve this issue by using the two half-round white rods which are to be placed and used in the OUTER slots, seen on the top of the cartridge. Place them flat side UP.

The rods are made of Alumina, and are insulating, thus allowing ground isolation for your cartridge without compromising the crucial mechanical energy transfer into the tone arm. This energy transfer is maintained due to the use of Alumina, which has the same properties as aluminum, but is non-conductive. Due to the novel body design of the ES cartridge, electrical isolation can still be maintained even though you may use metal screws.

On tone arms that do not allow azimuth adjustment, it is now possible to achieve this adjustment by way of the ES series by using the one full round alumina rod in the center slot only, alternately tightening and loosening the mounting screws by small amounts.