Goldring Ethos

Goldring Ethos: MC cartridge with Vital line-contact stylus

The Ethos is a high-end moving coil cartridge with a Vital nude diamond stylus: a polyhedral line-contact profile that combines a very small tip mass with a wide contact area, narrow along the groove. It reads even the ultrasonic frequencies cut into the record without distortion.

The GOL-1 generator

At its heart is the GOL-1 generator, hand-built by Goldring: an armature in soft iron, shaped like a cross and wound by hand, mounted on an aluminium alloy cantilever. Stylus replacement is carried out at the factory.

Fitting and matching

It has the standard half-inch mount and fits most tonearms. It needs an MC phono input, or a step-up transformer, with a 100 Ω load. Tracking force should be kept between 1.5 and 2.0 grams (1.75 recommended). As with any cartridge, after fitting it you should set alignment, tracking force and anti-skating following the tonearm instructions.

• Type: moving coil (MC), low output
• Stylus: Vital nude diamond line-contact
• Frequency response: from 35 Hz to 20 kHz (± 2 dB)
• Output voltage: 0.5 mV (1 kHz, 5 cm/s)
• Cartridge mass: 7.7 g