DS Audio DS E3 Optical Phono Cartridge and Equalizer System

Description

MY TAKE: It's amazing how much performance DS Audio has been able to pack into their entry-level model! Really an outstanding value. - Galen Carol

DS Audio DS 03 Optical Cartridge System

THE CARTRIDGE 

Third-generation optical cartridge mechanism -

The DS-E3 uses a third-generation optical cartridge mechanism, the same design as our other products. The DS-E3 achieves an overwhelmingly low price while inheriting the merits of the third-generation mechanism, such as higher output due to independent LED and PD (photodiode), improved channel separation, and the use of a beryllium light shielding plate.

Aluminum cantilever with elliptical stylus-

The cantilever is made of aluminum, and the tip of the needle is a solid elliptical needle. While adopting the third-generation optical cartridge mechanism, the channel separation is set at 1 dB lower to improve mass production efficiency.

THE EQUALIZER

New Amplification and Power Supply Circuits -

The DS-E3 equalizer's amplification circuit has been made symmetrical, and the voltage supplied to the cartridge has been stabilized to achieve a clearer and faster sound.

Miniaturization is achieved by using an operational amplifier -

The DS-E3 equalizer uses an operational amplifier as the amplifying element to minimize the signal path, thereby greatly reducing the number of components and achieving a smaller size. As a result, the DS-E3 equalizer is about 1/3 the size of the DS003 equalizer.

REVIEWS:
 

Tracking Angle: "The E3 phono pickup is a reference-caliber component. The areas in which it excels, even when it is not by much, it does so at a level that advances the state of the art, while there is no area in which it is less than very good to excellent. If you’re in the market for a new phono pickup anywhere near the price of this combination, I urge an audition. I‘ve been using it almost nonstop for over four months now and have not tired of it. It is a great cartridge and now one of my principal references for what is possible in the ever-developing and renewing world of analog and vinyl." - Paul Seydor

Soundstage Australia: "As for the sound it produces, the only conclusion I can possibly make is that DS-E3 is a game changer, even if DS Audio’s marketing department says so. It truly is. To those of you who can afford to acquire this game changer I can only recommend that you go out and buy it. (Do your homework first: prepare, measure, check, clean…) DS-E3 is worth it all. It will transform the relationship between you and your records. I wouldn’t be surprised if you binge-play your whole vinyl collection. It does that to you. 

"As for myself, with DS-E3 now as part of my reference system, the star of the show is vinyl again, no question." - Vedran Simunovic

The Audio Critic: "Truly beyond price. The DS-E3 is a revolutionary technology in historic record reproduction." - Ikuo Tsunoda

SPECIFICATIONS:

Cartidge -

Signal output: Photo-electric Conversion

Channel separation: 26db more (1kHz)

Weight: 7.7g

Output signal level: 70mV more

Cantilever: Alminum

Body material: Alminum

Stylus Force: 2.0g~2.2g (2.1g is recommended)

Stylus: Elliptical Needle

Equalizer -

Output voltage: 500mV(1kHz)

Output impedance: 120Ω

Pre amp input impedance: More than 10kΩ

Inputs: RCA

Outputs: RCA terminal (Switch two outputs with switch)

Dimensions: W26cm×H6.9cm×D19.5cm

Weight: 1.86kg