The Soundsmith Carmen MKII was created out of the desire to make a very high-performance design at an affordable price… Just slightly lush with a well-developed midrange, the Carmen MKII is surprisingly pleasing and will seduce you into late listening sessions. The stylus used is a part of what makes it special; an ultralow mass cut and polished into a true Hyper-Elliptical shape. The combination of low tip mass and the Moving Iron gives the Carmen MKII a tremendous resolution advantage over MC designs selling for more than twice the price. Housed in Soundsmiths new ES DEMS body design, the Carmen MKII delivers.
Soundsmith Carmen MKII Specifications:
HIGH OUTPUT
Stylus: Nude Elliptical, 0.120mm SQ
Radius of curvature: 6 x 17 μm
Cantilever: Aluminum Alloy
Recommended tracking force: 1.3-1.6 gm
Effective tip mass: 0.35 mg
Compliance: 22 μm/mN
Frequency response: 20-20,000 Hz ± 2.5 dB
Channel separation (stereo only): 1000 Hz >26 dB, 50-15,000 >20 dB
Channel difference: <1.6 dB (Stereo), <1.0 dB (Mono)
Output voltage: 2.12 mV
Cartridge weight: 9.2 grams
Loading: ≥ 47 kΩ
Also available in dual-coil mono.
ES Cartridges with “DEMS”
Sometimes when mounting on a grounded metal arm, a cartridge will create a hum due to a ground loop. If you experience some low-level hum due to the 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 tonearm. This energy transfer is maintained due to the use of Alumina, which has the same properties as aluminium 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 tonearms 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 centre slot only, alternately tightening and loosening the mounting screws by small amounts.
See Soundsmith product range HERE
