The Aida employs a single crystal Ruby Cantilever and our Optimized Contour Line Contact Stulus; we did this to resolve the challenges of playing the inner grooves with the same level of confidence as the outer. How did Soundsmith do this? The unique stylus shape of OCL 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 frequench information that other cartridges simply cannot trace. The result -  a truly superb cartridge, surpassing top MC design s with air, focus and sound staging no cartridge at this price sould be able to achieve.

Norma

This is Soundsmith's new medium output design. All other technical specifications are identical to the AIDA.

 

Technical specifications

Stylus: Contact Line Nude, 0.100 mm SQ selected for low noise.

Radius of curvature: OCL (Optimized Contour Contact Line)

Cantilever: Ruby

Recommended Tracking force:

10 mN / 1.0 gm (high)

13 mN / 1.3 gm (medium)

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 THE VOICE: 2.12 mV

Output voltage SOTTO VOCE: 1.1 mV

Cartridge weight: 6.8 Grams

Loading AIDA: >= 47 kΩ

Loading NORMA: >= 1.5 kΩ