Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Grand Unveiling
I’ve always liked the basic Ethos and still do, but the SE is a bit more poised and sophisticated. Main vocalists seem to have taken a small step back from the microphone, occupying a more expansive sense of space and revealing more of a performance’s ambience. Yukimi Nagano’s vocals on ‘Come To Me’ from Koop’s Koop Islands LP were breathy and vivid, but also benefited from a grand sense of air and scale. They soared from the loudspeakers with joy and power but no artificial edginess.

A slightly falling response at the pick-up’s top end could suggest that the Ethos SE will sound soft or lacking bite. And, yes, cymbals miss out on the ultimate metallic zing offered by a cartridge with a bit more energy in this region. The Ethos SE fights back superbly, however, with a level of detail retrieval that doesn’t leave you feeling short-changed. The quiet, jangling guitar and percussion effects backing Fabienne Delsol on ‘I’m Gonna Haunt You’ were strong and well-placed behind the vocals and the bassline.

Deep Dish
Ah, yes, bass. Fans of deep, low-end grunt will bond with the Ethos SE’s rich rendering of bass guitar and drums. Aided by secure tracking, this MC delivers solid, detailed lows blessed with timing snappier than a Savile Row suit. So whether it was pounding out the thundering beat underpinning the Deep Dish mix of De’lacey’s ‘Hideaway’ 12in single [Deconstruction 74321 561051], or capturing the inflections of the rather more sophisticated bassline behind the title track of Jalen Ngonda’s Come Around And Love Me, the Ethos SE’s unflappable confidence repeatedly won the day.

Confidence is king here, for the Ethos SE is reliably unflustered by any genre of groove passing under its stylus tip. Often, cartridges that have prominent strengths find you leafing through your record collection looking for particular types of music to play. That’s not the case here – whatever LP I lifted from my rack, it did a fine job getting the best from it. From the subtleties of jazz, via the crescendos of a storming classical performance and right to the muddy but marvellously enthusiastic thrash of Biffy Clyro’s ‘Tiny Indoor Fireworks’, this pick-up proved unerringly positive.

The short alloy cantilever is visible protruding through a hole in the Ethos SE’s front poleshoe. A wrap prevents the ingress of dust and dirt

New romantic
Few cartridges are without a ‘voice’ of their own, and while Goldring’s Ethos SE does err slightly towards the softer side of neutral, this never leaves it sounding ruinously laidback or soporific. It strikes a very fine balance between discovering bags of detail without hammering the message into your ears.

People often talk in clichés about vinyl’s romantic ‘warmth’, which can be irksome because the format is about so much more than that. On the other hand, listening to the Ethos SE, you can perhaps appreciate their point of view...

Hi-Fi News Verdict
The Goldring Ethos SE is a hugely enjoyable cartridge. Building on the strengths of the Ethos, it adds an extra level of sophistication, and serves it up with a better sense of atmosphere and scale. Add in ease of setup and its indifference to VTA and loading changes, and you have an absolute winner. For a range-topping design that costs less than some spend on cables, this is a veritable audiophile bargain.

Sound Quality: 87%