Soundsmith Carmen MK II
Created out of the desire to make a very high performance design at an affordable price, the Carmen mk II was crafted to have unparalleled purity of tone and ultra-smooth presentation. Just slightly lush with a well-developed midrange, the Carmen is surprisingly pleasing and will seduce you into long, late listening sessions. Rebuild Price? ~ $299 ~ 20% (or less) of MSRP, as always ! - The Carmen features a 2 year warranty to the original owner.
The stylus used is a large part of what makes it special; an ultra-low mass occlusion free nude diamond cut and polished into a true hyper-elliptical shape. The combination of low tip mass and the Fixed Coil design gives the Carmen a tremendous resolution advantage over MC designs selling for more than twice the price. Housed in a handmade solid Ebony case, the Carmen delivers.
Rebuild Price $299.00
Type:• Fixed Coil / Moving Iron
Mount:• Standard ½”
Stylus:• Elliptical Nude, 0.12 mm square
Radius of Curvature:• 6 x 17 µm
Cantilever:• Aluminum Alloy
Recommended Tracking Force:• 1.3 - 1.6 g Standard (Medium Compliance)
• 1.0 - 1.2 g (Special Order High Compliance)
Effective Tip Mass:• 0.35 mg
Compliance:• 22 µm/mN (Medium Compliance)
• 28 µm/mN (High Compliance)
Frequence Response:• 15 - 45,000 Hz ± 2.0 dB
Channel Separation @ 1000 Hz:• > 26 dB• N/A (Mono version)
Channel Separation @ 50 - 15,000 Hz:• > 20 dB• N/A (Mono version)
Channel Difference:• < 1.6 dB• < 1.0 dB (Mono version)
Output Voltage @ 5cm/sec:• > 2.12 mV (HIGH)DC Resistance (DCR):• 680ΩCoil Inductance per channel:• 190 mHSuggested Preamp Gain:• 38 - 44 dBCartridge Weight:• 9.20 g (ES series)Recommended Load Resistance:• ≥ 47kΩRecommended Load Capacitance:• n/a