Musical Surroundings Debuts New DS Audio Master 3 "Set" (Optical Cart+Equalizer) at Next Week's FAE
DS's "semi-flagship" combo costs $27,500
DS Audio importer Musical Surroundings today announced the debut at next week's Florida Audio Exp of the new "Master 3" set featuring the new Master 3 optical cartridge ($9500) featuring a Microridge stylus bonded to a unique square-section diamond cantilever. The new $18,000 Master 3 equalizer is a 50+ pound single box version of the Grand Master EQ featuring both single-ended RCA and balanced XLR outputs.
The new Master 3 cartridge features Independent LED and photo-detector arrangement for the left and right channels, resulting in a dramatic increase in output voltage from 40mV to 70mV and improved S/N ratio compared to other models, resulting in an even lower noise floor and far greater musical clarity.
Independent left and right channel LEDs allows for optimized optical system positioning and the need for a new shading plate that's been significantly reduced in size compared to previous designs. The plate material has been changed from aluminum (used in second generation cartridges) to 99.9% pure beryllium, reducing its weight by more than 50%.
The Master 3 cartridge combines a square pillar diamond cantilever with a Micro Ridge stylus designed to produce maximum rigidity. Internal wiring, 1.6 times thicker than what's used in the second generation cartridges, reduces impedance.
The DS Master 3 equalizer is a dual mono circuit design featuring three transformers and six selectable output patterns, utilizes three transformers and completely independent L-channel and R-channel circuits. A significantly strengthened power supply is said to enable "deep, richer low frequency expression". The DS Master3 has balanced and unbalanced outputs as well as six different low frequency cut-off options.
