Description
Goldring Ethos Cartridge
The Goldring Ethos cartridge is a true high-end moving-coil cartridge, equipped with a vital-shank, nude-diamond stylus. Its polyhedral line-contact profile was carefully selected for its exceptionally low tip mass and broad contact area, yet it remains remarkably narrow front-to-back. This design enables the accurate and undistorted retrieval of even ultrasonic frequencies captured in the recording.
At the heart of the Ethos lies Goldring’s hand-built GOL-1 moving-coil generator. Featuring a meticulously hand-wound, cross-shaped soft-iron armature and mounted within a low-resonance aircraft-grade aluminium chassis, each unit is expertly tuned by our skilled craftsmen to deliver the highest level of performance we’ve ever achieved.
The result is a cartridge that doesn’t just play music—it immerses you in it. That’s the essence of Ethos.
Line-Contact Stylus
The line-contact diamond profile provides a large contact area with the groove wall, improving the retrieval of high frequency detail and reducing groove wear. Its vital-shaped shank has a low tip mass giving the design exceptionally good trackability.
Alloy Cantilever
The stiff and lightweight alloy cantilever tube has been tuned to the ideal length for cartridge stability and ride height. Its length has been optimised to reduce inertia in the suspension system and improve trackability.
Cross-Shaped Armature
The coils are wound around a cross-shaped armature of pure, high-permeability, Swedish iron. The reduced unsprung mass improves the ability for the stylus to track the groove wall and the coil separation minimises cross-talk, improving the stereo image.
Optimised Suspension
The new damper pad uses a bespoke butyl rubber compound to keep the system critically damped. Combined with an expertly tensioned tie-wire, the cartridge remains ultra-stable even during the loudest and most complex passages.
Neodymium Magnet
A very light and powerful neodymium magnet is clamped between two pole shoes creating a perfectly uniform magnetic field gap, within which the cross armature is suspended. This gives Ethos its typically flat and extended frequency response.
Aluminium Body Shell
The body is precision-milled from a low density, rigid, aircraft grade aluminium which helps to maintain a low effective mass and enables it to dissipate unwanted resonances into the tonearm where they are effectively ‘grounded’.
Specifications
Transducer Characteristics
- Stylus profile: Vital line-contact
- Cantilever: Aluminium alloy
- Replacement stylus: Factory replaceable
- Frequency range: 10 Hz – 32 kHz
- Frequency response: ± 2 dB (35 Hz – 20 kHz)
- Channel balance: <1 dB at 1 kHz
- Channel separation: >30 dB at 1 kHz
- Sensitivity: 0.5 mV ± 1 dB @ 1 kHz, 5 cm/s (rms)
- Static compliance: 25 mm/N
- Dynamic compliance: 15 mm/N
- Vertical tracking angle: 20°
Electrical Characteristics
- Load Resistance: 47 kΩ
- Load Capacitance: 150-200 pF
- Internal Inductance: 570 mH
- Internal Resistance: 660 Ω
Mechanical Characteristics
- Cartridge mass: 7.7 g
- Total mass: (incl. fixings)8.5 g
- Fixing centres: 12.7 mm (0.5 in)
- Playing weight: 1.5 – 2.0 g (1.75 g)
Reviews
“This little beauty was more than able to punch above its weight on turntables costing the same as a family saloon. For the price it’s an absolute corker.”
Audiograde, Best Turntable Cartridge 2024 Award, Dec 2024
“Goldring’s Ethos moving coil plays like a cartridge costing much more than its $1599 asking price. Not only that, it’s built like one…Just to be clear I keep repeating my praise for the Ethos’s tracking abilities because that’s how it sounds: like its line-contact rock stays locked in the slot. Goldring’s overachieving Ethos delivers a bright, extra-quiet clarity that lets the sounds and attitudes of music come out fresh, full, distinct, and robust.”
“With its spec sheet and performance, this cartridge by any other brand would be coming at you with a much bigger price tag. I can think of few, if any, moving-coil pick-ups at this level that can provide the musical detail, dynamics and overall consistency of the Ethos, while also being so easy to live with across a wide range of musical genres – highly recommended.”
“Goldring’s Ethos is a moving coil cartridge unlike most else. It offers moving coil clarity and stage depth but has a lullingly smooth sound, as we know it from vinyl days of yore. A good performer all-round, with fine tracking, it’s an alternative to the more challenging sound of today’s current crop and worth considering. Outstanding – amongst the best.”
“When you buy the Ethos, you’re given a promise. A promise that your hi-fi life will improve slowly and steadily over time. The Ethos is for the long haul. Rejoice in the aural gains that you will hear, immediately. Then prepare yourself for new joys to come as a host of information is fed to you over a long period of time. The Ethos? It’s the gentleman’s gentleman of cartridges.”
