Developed in collaboration with Japanese optical-cartridge pioneer DS Audio, it replaces the magnets and coils of conventional MM and MC designs with an optical sensing system, allowing the stylus to move with remarkable freedom and precision by eliminating magnetic coil resistance and delivering exceptionally low moving mass. The result is a sound that can be startlingly immediate, clean and transparent.
There is an almost uncanny sense of ease to the SF. Transients arrive with exceptional speed and definition, yet music never sounds etched or clinical. Instead, the presentation combines an exceptionally low noise floor with a rich, expressive midrange, taut and authoritative bass and an effortless openness at high frequencies. Fine details emerge naturally from an impressively quiet background, while instruments retain their texture, colour and sense of physical presence.
The cartridge’s specification is exceptional: a sapphire cantilever carries a Micro Ridge stylus, while the cartridge body uses high-density phenolic resin chosen for its excellent damping properties. But specifications only tell part of the story. The real appeal of the SF is what happens when the stylus enters the groove: records seem to shed a layer of mechanical interference, leaving the music remarkably vivid, dynamic and alive.