DS Audio’s DS-003 optical phono cartridge, which sits just above entry level in the Japanese company’s range, offers an impressive complement of technology borrowed from the range-topping Grand Master model – but at a fraction of the price. That alone is worth an award! 

Last year, US audio magazine split its annual Editors’ Choice Awards into two separate cycles, the first (in November) focusing on hi-fi components suited to a home living room, and the second (in March) featuring products that best fit into larger systems in dedicated listening rooms – including several of DS Audio’s game-changing optical cartridges and accessories.

This year, DS Audio’s one-up-from-entry-level model, the DS-003, also features in the November awards, recognising designer Tetsuaki Ayoagi’s relentless commitment to leveraging trickle-down technology to bring his pioneering, high-performance products to a wider range of audiophiles and music lovers.

“Like its ten-times more expensive brother, the nonpareil DS Audio Grand Master, the DS 003 optical cartridge uses DS’ new “dual-mono” optical/electrical generator, with independent LEDs and photodetectors for each channel,” writes reviewer Jonathan Valin. “Again, like the Grand Master, it uses a featherweight, 99.9% beryllium shading plate that is 50% lighter than the aluminum one used in DS Audio’s previous OC’s (prior to the Grand Master). And once more like the GM, the DS Audio’s internal wiring is 1.6 times thicker than it was in first- and second-gen DSes. These technological advancements make for virtually the same kind of sonic improvements that they do in the GM.”

“If you have a system that is capable of highest-resolution playback, then by all means go whole hog and get the fabulous Product of the Year Award-winning Grand Master duo. You won’t regret it. But if you don’t have state-of-the-art speakers and amplification (or money to burn), then the choice is easy: Go for the DS-003. It is a simply marvelous transducer.”

Discover the full range of DS Audio’s multi-award-winning optical cartridges and accessories at https://ds-audio.biz/en/ and locate your nearest specialist retailer via UK distributor www.soundfowndations.co.uk/

Check out complete listings of The Absolute Sound’s Editors’ Choice Award winners in the magazine’s November issue.