EMBARK ON A MUSIC JOURNEY
“Imagine being back home after a busy day. You choose a beautiful record, clamp it on your turntable, cue the tonearm, and sit back
As soon as the stylus reaches the first notes, the sound is so involving you can disconnect and embark for a pure musical experience
This is what I live every day, and this is why we created the LS10”
Gregory de Richemont
HANDCRAFTED WITH PASSION
Designed by Dr. Ted Tsai
The LS10 cartridge was built by experimenting with a myriad of materials before discovering the compelling alchemy
At inception, the moving coil design was chosen over moving magnet & iron, as it provides essential performance benefits
These benefits can be summarized as less is more:
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Less moving mass, leading to faster response to groove modulations
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Lower inductance, leading to lower self-noise, flatter frequency response, and ultra-linear phase response
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ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS
BORON NITRIDE CANTILEVER
What is Boron Nitride?
Boron Nitride is a high-performance engineering ceramic with extreme hardness. Research showed that Boron Nitride (white color) is lighter than the Boron Carbide (black color) used in traditional high-end cartridges:
Density (g/cm3)
This new generation material and the structural design of the LS10 cantilever further reduce the cartridge moving mass, increase vibrations transmission accuracy and speed, leading to better transients and micro-details resolution
The LS10 cantilevers are made in Japan, involving high-temperature casting and high-precision polishing
NUDE SHIBATA STYLUS
The LS10 MC Cartridge features a nude Shibata stylus, cut and polished in Japan
A nude stylus reduces the moving mass of the cartridge, hence optimizes the transcription of music dynamics compared to bonded styli
Invented by Mr. Shibata and patented to Victor Company of Japan (JVC) in 1973, the now famous Shibata stylus shape was originally developed to accurately track the high-frequency information on quadraphonic records (up to 45 kHz) without wearing them out
For clarity, here is a direct comparison between an elliptical stylus and the Shibata:
The contact area between the Shibata stylus and record grooves is optimum, providing 2 important benefits for the LS10 cartridge:
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- The cartridge tracking ability is optimized, rendering all the music micro-details
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- With a vertical tracking force of only 1.6 gram applied on a large area in the record grooves, the LS10 stylus lasts long and preserves your precious records
EBONY WOOD BODY
If there is one wood that exudes beauty and elegance, it would be ebony. This natural material is dense and durable, and some musicians prefer it over rosewood for their instruments
This wood was chosen for its subtle influence on the cartridge sound, as it removes any harshness from high frequencies, while providing deep and tight bass response
Made of one block of aged ebony wood, the LS10 MC Cartridge body is precision machined and sanded. A special varnish – analog to the ones used on violins – is finally applied to ensure its utmost stability
SPECIFICATIONS
PHYSICAL
- Cartridge Type: Moving Coil
- Body: Aged Ebony Wood
- Stylus: Nude Diamond, Shibata Shape
- Stylus Tip Radius: 6 x 75μm
- Cantilever: Boron Nitride Ceramic Rod
- Coil: 6N Copper Square Coil
- Vertical Tracking Angle: 20 degrees
- Weight: 6.9 grams
ELECTRICAL
- Output Voltage: 0.35mV at 3.54cm/s or 0.49mV at 5cm/s
- Internal Impedance: 8 ohms
- Frequency Response: 15 – 45,000 Hz
- Channel Separation: Better than 30dB at 1kHz
- Channel Balance: Better than 0.5dB
DYNAMIC
- Tracking ability: 80μm at 315Hz with 2g Tracking Force
- Dynamic Compliance: 12μm/mN
SETUP
- Recommended Loading: 75 ohms minimum
- Recommended Vertical Tracking Force (VTF): 1.4 – 1.8 grams
- Reference Vertical Tracking Force (VTF): 1.6 grams
- Recommended Tone Arm Mass: Medium
- Break-in Period: 30 hours
ACCESSORIES
- 1 x Stylus Guard
- 1 x Stylus Brush
- 1 x Precision Hexagonal Screwdriver
- 2 x Short Mounting Screws & Washers
- 2 x Long Mounting Screws & Washers
SIMPLE INSTALLATION & ALIGNMENT
The LS10 cartridge body is precisely pre-threaded, enabling an easy installation and alignment with just two bolts – no nuts required
Furthermore, the straight sides of the body make it simple for you to align the cartridge on your turntable
ONLINE CUSTOMER SUPPORT
The purchase of an LS10 cartridge includes an online support to ensure the perfect integration of your new cartridge in your system
Le Son Customer Support for the LS10 cartridge includes:
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- Installation and alignment of the cartridge on your headshell
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- Research and guidance to setup optimum VTF, VTA, and Antiskating on your tonearm
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- Research and guidance to setup your phono preamplifier loading
60 DAYS RETURN POLICY
We are conscious how difficult it is to choose a high quality phono cartridge, often only relying on reviews to make your decision.
This is why we provide a 60 days return policy so you have plenty of time to listen and decide if the cartridge fits well in your system.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- With which turntables or tonearms can I use the LS10 MC Cartridge?
- Is there a warranty for the LS10 MC Cartridge?
- What is the stylus lifespan of the LS10 MC Cartridge?
- Can the LS10 MC Cartridge be retipped?
- What is the recommended phono preamplifier gain for the LS10 MC Cartridge?
On any turntable, the cartridge/tonearm combination will exhibit resonance at a specific frequency. This resonance is due to the interaction of the cartridge (acting as a spring), and the weight of the tonearm (acting as a mass). The “springiness” of the phono cartridge is described as compliance, and the weight of the arm is specified as mass. The goal in matching a specific cartridge and tonearm is to have this resonant frequency to be between 8Hz and 11Hz.
The LS10 MC Cartridge compliance is 12μm/mN, which will match perfectly medium mass tonearms. Most turntables out there have a medium mass tonearm. If you have a doubt, feel free to contact us, we will check for you.
Yes, the warranty for the LS10 MC Cartridge is 2 years, and starts at reception of the package.
The detailed warranty conditions are stated in our General Terms & Conditions.
The LS10 features a nude Shibata stylus, the most famous member of the “line contact” styli family. Unlike cheaper stylus shapes (spherical, conical, elliptical), the vertical tracking force (VTF) is spread along a wider area, and therefore wears slower.
In addition, the VTF of the LS10 MC Cartridge is only 1.6g, so the pressure on both the record and the stylus is kept at minimum.
The LS10 MC Cartridge stylus lifespan ranges from 2,000 to 3,000 hours.
In other words, the LS10 stylus lifespan ranges from 3 to 4 years if you listen to records 2 hours every single day.
Yes, the LS10 MC Cartridge can be retipped at a very advantageous price.
Japanese stylus & cantilever manufacturers update their prices yearly, so when a retipping is necessary, please contact us and we will provide you with all the information.
To maintain the best signal to noise ratio, your phono preamplifier gain should complement the output of your phono cartridge.
The LS10 outputs 0.49mV at 5cm/s, and we therefore recommend to set the gain of your phono preamplifier from 56dB to 62dB.
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