“The DS 003 shows emphatically how trickle-down technology benefits the customer, while maintain a pecking order. As close as it is to the mind-boggling Grand Master, enough differences ensure that the two can co-exist: the DS 003 is the more lively of the two, the Grand Master the more subtle. That said, if you can afford a Grand Master, buy it. If you cannot, the astonishing DS 003 will still blow your mind” Ken Kessler Hi Fi News

Independent LED and photo-detector arrangement for the left and right channels

The new DS003 optical cartridge system has been optimized, by implementing an independent LED and photo-detector arrangement for the left and right channels. As a result the cartridge output voltage has greatly increased from 40mV to 70mV. The DS003 cartridge offers a greatly improved S/N ratio when compared to its stable mates, resulting in an even lower noise floor and far greater musical clarity.

Weight of shading plate reduced by more than 50%

The implementation of independent left and right channel LED’ s allows for the positioning of the optical system to be optimized as well as necessitating the use of a new shading plate that has been significantly reduced in size compared to our earlier designs. In addition to this reduction in size, the material used to produce the shading plate has changed from aluminium (as used in the second generation cartridges) to 99.9% pure beryllium.

Aluminum cantilever & Aluminum body

The DS003 cartridge features the combination of an aluminum cantilever with a line contact stylus. The cartridge body is made by aluminum and the structure has been designed in such a way as to promote maximum rigidity. In addition to these features, the DS003 utilizes internal wiring 1.6 times thicker than used in the second generation cartridges in order to

Changed the thickness of the circuit board and the thickness of the copper foil.

Compared to the DS002 equalizer, the thickness of the circuit board has been changed from 1.6 mm to 2.0 mm, and the thickness of the copper foil has been changed from 35µ to 70µ.In addition, the DS003 equalizer allows you to select the cutoff frequency for the low frequency range from four types, allowing you to select an output that better matches your system.

Circuit Board Hand-made in Japan

Every component part used in our products is tested and evaluated by our expert Japanese technicians.
In addition to using a specially printed circuit board, twist-connection of the component legs is further evidence of DS Audio’ s excellent attention to detail.
Each and every product is hand-made and quality assured by our skilled engineers.