Soundsmith Carmen MKII

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? ~  $199 ~ 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.

Also available in dual-coil mono ($300 additional).

Specifications

Cartridge Type

Fixed Coil

Stylus Type

Elliptical

Output

High

Available As Dual Coil Mono

Yes ($300 additional)

Additional Specifications

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): 680Ω

Coil Inductance per channel: 190 mH

Suggested Preamp Gain: 38 - 44 dB

Cartridge Weight: 9.20 g (ES series)

Recommended Load Resistance: ≥ 47kΩ

Recommended Load Capacitance: n/a