Review: Ken Kessler, Lab: Paul Miller | Dec 11, 2020Synonymous with top-end turntables for two decades, AVID has extended its 'Very Interesting Design' portfolio to include MC pick-ups. Here's its open-bodied flagship. Irrespective of having installed what must be thousands of cartridges in my life, AVID's Reference Ruby moving-coil brought me out in a cold sweat. The top model in a trio that also includes the 4000 Boron and the 2000 Ionic, its 6000 sticker price, allied to a completely exposed cantilever, reminded me of the first cartridge I ever destroyed. The irony was not lost on me: that honour goes to the Dynavector 23R, the first-ever cartridge with a ruby cantilever. But unlike AVID's ruby rod, it was also one of the shortest at just 2.3mm. The Long GameHere we are, four decades later, and AVID's founder and chief architect, Conrad Mas, has used the same cantilever material, but he went the other way regarding its length. Dynavector has cited 'reduced vibration' in its quest to produce ever shorter gem cantilevers, its Karat Diamond MC pick-up featuring a mere 1.7mm rod coupled with a micro-ridge stylus [HFNJul '12]. In practice, editorPMtells me, the response of the 23R and 17D was no more extended than that of the Reference Ruby, if arguably a little flatter. The AVID flagship is certainly the better tracker too. So, as with everything in audio, it's a case of balancing the trade-offs. Read the full review here: https://www.hifinews.com/content/avid-reference-ruby-cartridge
