CARTRIDGE
Photo-electric pick-up cartridge
Made by: Digital Stream Corporation, Kanagawa, Japan
Supplied by: Soundfowndations Ltd, Berks
Telephone: 0118 9814238
Web: www.ds-audio-w.biz; www.soundfowndations.co.uk
Price: £4800

DS Audio DS 002

DS Audio made a real
impact with its DS-W1
cartridge [HFN Nov’15] adopting a new(or forgotten) technology fora cartridge that was neither astraightforward MC nor MM design.
Here the movement of stylus andcantilever interrupts an LED lightsource falling on a photocell within
the cartridge body, producing a
modulated (music) output.
So intrigued was the audio
world by the DS-W1 – though it
was originally intended only for theJapanese home market – that therange has grown quickly to threemodels. At £4800 the DS 002 is thelowest-priced offering by a large
sum. Its siblings include the original
DS-W1 at £7500 and the extreme
DS-Master 1 at a cool £19,000(from which the DS 002 has trickledown benefits).
The DS 002 uses an aluminium
body instead of the ‘ultra-duralumin’of the dearest model, albeit ofas if it might cut loose like a
runaway train... but neverdoes. This cartridgecertainly exploits
speakers with tightfocus and a ‘hotseat’, such as thosefrom Wilson Audioor others with aregime involving
positioning to themillimetre, or smallmonitors that act
like point sources.
With this level ofsoundstage magic onoffer, we turned to a recentlyestablished roster of LPs that
includes the Mobile Fidelity‘One-Step Process’ edition ofSantana’s Abraxas, Johnny Winter’s
The Progressive Blues Experiment[Imperial] as representative of anormal release, and the 45rpm
double LP of Bob Dylan’s Highway
61 Revisited [Mobile Fidelity] inmono for contrast. We turned firstto the Johnny Winter LP, whosesound has been described as‘grungy’ – perfect fodder for
those who think a good system
can cut through murk.
Indeed it did, because theDS 002’s sheer sonic cleanlinessmeant that nothing unsavoury wasbeing added to the playback. It
was pristine almost in the mannerof a Shure V15Vx, but withoutsounding sterile. The ringing andjangling elements of bottleneck
guitar enjoyed a clarity and twangthat added to the presence, while
diminishing the artifice of it being arecording, not reality.
It placed the instruments in theroom with unmistakable actuality.
The lower registers possessed plentyof mass, with the DS 002’s plumpbottom proving beneficial – forthis LP can sound slightly thin withcertain cartridges. There was plentyof stage width and depth for theDS 002 to exploit too, particularly
on tracks such as ‘Bad Luck And
Trouble’. This is a guitar versus blues
harp battle, spread across the room.
Each element was located with

‘The bass sounded
as if it might cut loose
like a runaway train...’a similar design. Its aluminium
cantilever is fitted with a Shibata
stylus but has the wire suspension
system of the DS-Master 1 forgreater tonearm compatibility.
Set-up was much easier thanfine-tuning the DS-W1 – VTA wasmuch less fiddly and everythingsnapped into focus once the sweet
spot was reached. We found that it
worked best with the cartridge top
perfectly parallel to the surface ofthe record. Once you switch on theincluded EQ/phono stage unit, thecartridge is illuminated by a blue
stripe across the front, which looks
striking, especially if you listen withthe lights out!

soundstage magic
The DS 002 provides the same
‘blackness’ in the silences as theDS-W1, as well as bass that sounds

REPRODUCED FROM HI-FI NEWS | www.hifinews.co.uk

ABOVE: This shot
clearly shows DS
Audio’s crimped
alloy cantilever,suspended bya tie-wire, andfitted with a
Shibata-profile
diamond stylus.
With the phono
stage on, a blue
stripe lights up!

utter precision, while theBob Dylan mono had perfectcentral positioning.
The whizz-bang dexterity of theDS 002 in three dimensions wasof no concern here, and one couldfocus just on sound quality. Every
vocal tick and musical lick was asnatural as we’ve ever heard it.
Then we come to the vibrancy
and shimmer of Abraxas. With thisLP we witness the panoply of theDS 002’s talents, and the results
are spectacular. Dazzling details,
the faultless interplay of the Latinrhythms that define Santana’soeuvre, powerful percussion – theDS 002 revealed the lot!

VERDICT
Charmed by the DS-W1, we
found its ‘budget’ sibling evenmore enchanting – especially thetransparency attributable to thephotocell technology. This is clean,
yet sweet, precise in imaging andgrand in scale. A triumph.

HI-FI NEWS SPECIFICATIONSGenerator type/weight

Optical / 8.1g

Recommended tracking force

1.6-1.8mN (1.7mN)

Sensitivity/balance (re. 5cm/sec)

838mV / 0.56dB (from Eq unit)

Compliance (vertical/lateral)

15cu / 20cu

Vertical tracking angle

22 degrees

L/R Tracking ability

75μm / 70μm

L/R Distortion (–8dB, 20Hz-20kHz)

0.3–9.1% / 0.5–8.1%

L/R Frequency resp. (20Hz-20kHz)+7.8 to –0.8dB / +5.0 to –3.7dB

Stereo separation (1kHz / 20kHz)

25dB / 10dB