AZ Nomad wrote:

On Fri, 17 Mar 2006 08:06:08 +0000, Ian Bell

No I was thinking more of a small low mass pair of mirrors in place of the
MM for example with perhaps fibre optics to carry the data - no hum issues
for a start.

No. You'd just have a 2lb brick with the electronics hanging off your
tonearm. :-)
Sure you could do better with today's microelectronics, but making custom
integrated circuits isn't a cheap endevor and I doubt any cartridge makers
forsee enough profits to cover development costs.


Since when has cost been an issue for audiophiles ;-)

Besides, would a mirror really be lighter than a coil? If you wanted to
improve the noise problem, move the preamp into the turntable. The
biggest noise problem has always been the cables.

Coils have problems with rising impedance, parallel capacitance and
susceptibility to external radiation. Optics has none of these.

Ian