Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

While some design and performance features – including the X-shaped coils, superb tracking performance and extended but 'bright' treble response – all have a Lyra-esque quality [HFN May '13], AVID's flagship MC is arguably closer to Sumiko's Starling [HFN Mar '20] in respect of its arm/phono preamp matching. In order to maintain a low moving mass, the long ruby cantilever carries fewer coil turns, and thus has a lower internal resistance and output, the latter precisely matching AVID's 0.32mV spec. (re. 1kHz/5cm/sec). The channel balance is tight at 0.3dB, stereo separation held to between 23-28dB (20Hz-20kHz) and, while the 'micro-ridge' stylus is well polished and precisely mounted on its ruby cantilever, VTA looks closer to 30o than the usual 20-24o. Compliance is low at 9cu and this, combined with the 9g bodyweight, renders it very compatible with today's higher (11-16g) effective mass tonearms.

Despite its relatively 'stiff' compliance, the Ruby is a very secure tracker at its recommended 2.0g, achieving ~75µm via the left/right channels, respectively, and keeping hold of a high +15dB groove modulation (re. 315Hz/5cm/sec) at ~0.4% THD. There is some slight asymmetry in the generator here, the right channel having a hotter presence leading to a kick above 8kHz that reaches +6dB/20kHz on lateral (L+R) cuts and +3dB/20kHz with vertical (L-R) traces [solid traces, Graph 1, below]. The left channel [dashed traces] has a milder +2dB/20kHz (lateral) and +1.5dB/20kHz (vertical) response, but distortion is uniformly high on both channels – up to 20%/15kHz (–8dB re. 5cm/sec) – not because the Reference Ruby is especially non-linear, but because it has an uncommonly extended HF response. PM