“Name another recent technological advance that has changed the audio scene as much as DS Audio’s optical cartridges have,” write the US audio magazine’s reviewers. “If you can’t, that’s because there is none,” they add, as they give Awards to four of the company’s cartridges, and two Awards to designer Tetsuaki Aoyagi’s innovative accessories.
“Moreover, DS has not rested on its laurels, It keeps improving its offerings with technologies trickled down from its top products and keeps populating its line with reasonably priced entries.”
The DS-W3 is a case in point, a ‘third generation’ optical cartridge that is “quite simply the best sounding ‘affordable’ optical cartridge” that [reviewer] Jonathan Valin has heard in his system.
But if you have the budget to go higher, DS Audio’s flagship Grand Master phono cartridge “comes closer to the sound of R2R tape than any other phono cartridge on the market” and delivers “the most ‘complete’ and most realistic reproduction of the music and musicians on LPs” Valin has yet heard.
Those fortunate enough to be able to go higher still will need (and very much want) the flagship Grand Master EX (Extreme), which “offers a portal into a new audio realm of vinyl reproduction”. With its 0.22mm one-piece diamond cantilever that employs no adhesive, it delivers “a continuity of sound that is immediately and pleasurably apparent”, making this “a standout cartridge that is as seductive as it is dynamic.”
But if affordability is key, don’t despair. The ‘one up from entry-level’ DS-003 has already won several coveted awards from The Absolute Sound including a Golden Ear Award 2022 and Product of the Year 2022. And with good reason, since this is another “trickledown masterpiece” that sports many of the benefits of the Grand Master for around one tenth of the price.
Like the Grand Master and the DS-W3, the DS-003 uses ‘third generation’ optical cartridge technology, including a new dual-mono optical/electrical generator with independent LEDs and photodetectors for each channel, delivering greatly enhanced channel separation and hence soundstaging and imaging, while improving tracking and lowering noise to a near-inaudible level, enabling greater resolution and dynamic range. “That difference is startling and advantageous” with “a clarity and transparency akin to digital with a naturalness and lack of artifacts that is the hallmark of analog.” “If you want to hear your records as they are intended to sound… the 003 is a great way to imbibe.”
Moving on to accessories, the ES-002 Eccentricity Stabiliser “is a breakthrough product from a company that seems to specialize in breakthrough products”. This “little marvel of optical technology” reads the concentricity of a record’s run-out grooves via infra-red light and show you what adjustments are needed to perfectly centre your record on the platter, allowing your stylus to track as its intended to. For anyone who’s deeply into analogue it’s “a game-changer and a must-own item.”
Finally, the ION-001 is The Absolute Sound’s sixth selection from the DS Audio range. It’s a free-standing ionizer that “smooths out” tracking by neutralising the static charge of your records. “It also (and more importantly) somehow neutralises timbre, in the sense of bringing tonal balance closer to colorlessly natural top to bottom,” writes Valin, making this “a worth-it addition to any ultra-high-end playback system.”
The full list of Award winners appears in the March 2026 issue of The Absolute Sound.
Discover more about DS Audio’s ground-breaking optical cartridges and accessories at https://ds-audio.biz and locate your nearest specialist retailer via UK distributor www.soundfowndations.co.uk
David Denyer PR | The hi-fi specialist 