“The DS 003 shows emphatically how trickle-down technology benefits the customer, while maintain a pecking order. As close as it is to the mind-boggling Grand Master, enough differences ensure that the two can co-exist: the DS 003 is the more lively of the two, the Grand Master the more subtle.
Independent LED and photo-detector arrangement for the left and right channels
The new DS003 optical cartridge system has been optimized, by implementing an independent LED and photo-detector arrangement for the left and right channels. As a result, the cartridge output voltage has greatly increased from 40mV to 70mV. The DS003 cartridge offers a greatly improved S/N ratio when compared to its stable mates, resulting in an even lower noise floor and far greater musical clarity.
Weight of shading plate reduced by more than 50%
The implementation of independent left and right channel LED’ s allows for the positioning of the optical system to be optimized as well as necessitating the use of a new shading plate that has been significantly reduced in size compared to our earlier designs. In addition to this reduction in size, the material used to produce the shading plate has changed from aluminum (as used in the second-generation cartridges) to 99.9% pure beryllium.
Aluminum cantilever & Aluminum body
The DS003 cartridge features the combination of an aluminum cantilever with a line contact stylus. The cartridge body is made by aluminum and the structure has been designed in such a way as to promote maximum rigidity. In addition to these features, the DS003 utilizes internal wiring 1.6 times thicker than used in the second-generation cartridges in order to
Signal output Photo-electric Conversion
Channel separation 27dB more（1KHz）
Weight 7.7g
Output signal level 70mV (1kHz cartridge output)
Canti-lever Aluminum
Body material Aluminum(A5052)
Cantilever holder material Stainless
Needle pressure 2.0g～2.2g(2.1g is recommended)
Stylus Line contact
“The DS 003 shows emphatically how trickle-down technology benefits the customer, while maintain a pecking order. As close as it is to the mind-boggling Grand Master, enough differences ensure that the two can co-exist: the DS 003 is the more lively of the two, the Grand Master the more subtle. That said, if you can afford a Grand Master, buy it. If you cannot, the astonishing DS 003 will still blow your mind”