The SOUNDSMITH NORMAN Sound Pickup

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

The Aida employs a single crystal Ruby Cantilever and our Optimized Contour Line Contact 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 OCL 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.

Also available in dual-coil mono.

Specifications

Cartridge Type Fixed Coil

Stylus Type Contact Line

Output high

Available As Dual Coil Mono Yes

Additional Specifications

Stylus: Contact Line Nude, 0.100mm SQ
Radius of curvature: OCL (Optimized Contour Contact Line)
Cantilever: Ruby
Recommended tracking force: 1.3 - 1.6 gm (standard medium compliance); 1.0 - 1.2 grams for special order high compliance
Effective tip mass: 0.30 mg
Compliance: 28 µm / mN (high), 22 µm / mN (medium)
Frequency response: 20-20,000 Hz ± 2.5 dB
Channel separation (stereo only): 1000 Hz> 30 dB, 50-15,000> 20 dB
Channel difference: <1.0 dB (stereo), <1.0 dB (mono)
Output voltage (Aida): 2.12 mV
Cartridge weight: 6.8 grams
Loading (Aida): = 47 kO