In November, the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society had its monthly dealer event at Weinhart Design in Bel Air. We enjoyed the debut of B&W's latest efforts, and a new line of phono cartridges made in California just outside LA. They are called Aidas Cartridges, and the company is Vira USA LLC. Victor Simakov heads the company of scientists and technical folks from all over the world working in Tehachapi, CA. They manufacture 10 different models, ranging in price from $3000 to $8500. Their top-of-the-line model is the Mammoth Gold, made of woolly mammoth tusk ivory over 20,000 years old. It is extraordinary.
I will cut to the chase. My experience with under $10,000 MC/MM/MI cartridges is extensive. I have never auditioned a superior sounding more realistic cartridge than the Mammoth Gold in this important price category. It is a breakthrough design with abilities beyond the excellent work of even the largest cartridge manufacturers we all love and admire.
From Aidas:
Aidas Mammoth gold is the new and the most advanced of Aidas production.
The Aidas Mammoth Gold package contains the cartridge with mammoth ivory body stabilized. The body made of 21,000 years old Siberian Woolly Mammoth tusk. The ivory properties are closest to human bones and have similar resonance characteristics, not only to skeletal bones but Auditory Ossicle bones that located in the middle ear. So we have complete harmony presented.
The cartridge packed in the stone box made of Siberian semi-precious stones. Also, the package contains the sealed 0.5L bottle of Siberian Mammoth vodka. The mounting ware, the wrenches and the manual all included. All this inside the attractive black plastic case.
Specifications
- Body: 21,000 years old Mammoth ivory task
- Cantilever: Namiki / Adamant boron composite
- Stylus:"Namiki" MicroRidge
- Output: 0.28mV
- Magnet system: AlNiCo5
- Tracking force: 1.6-1.8g.
- Compliance lateral: 12 um/mN
- Cartridge weight: 10.1-10.1g.
- Recommended loading: 4 ohms
- Channel separation: >30dB/1kHz
- Channel balance: >1dB/1kHz
- Coils: copper 0.03mm
- Mount: thread M2.5x0.45, 1/2 inch / 12.7mm standard between the holes
- Trackability at 300Hz/1.6g: 70-80uM
- Vertical tracking angle: 20°
- Recommended tonearm mass: medium
- Damping system: 2X
- Break-in period: 50 hours
I recommend a tracking force of 1.7 grams and a break-in period of 100 hours. A top step-up transformer is required. I used the E.A.R. MC4 at 6 ohms for maximum sound quality. Cables included the Jorma Origo, and the outstanding new RSX Beyond Phono Cables from Roger Skoff. (A review of the RSX Beyond is in progress.)
The phono stage is the all-tube E.A.R. 88PB run balanced to the E.A.R. 912 Preamplifier.
The tonearm is the Helius Omega 10 inch arm on the E.A.R. Disc Master Magnetic Drive Turntable.
Note: No woolly mammoths were harmed in procuring the ivory tusks for this cartridge!
In my first hearing of the Mammoth Gold, the sharp focus of natural-sounding imaging was startling. With the Acoustic Sounds' King Oliver LP, Satchmo pops center stage, hugging the microphone, alive as if in the room. With the spot-on character only he has, you are immediately drawn into the performance and no longer care about the source. Dynamics are perfect. Sparkle is just right. Bass is tight and highly detailed. Pacing is oh so perfect. The mammoth may have been a huge animal, but in cartridge form, it gets well out of the way of the music.
Yarlung Records' If You Love For Beauty is recorded live and produced at 45 RPM. The smooth, quiet perfection of Sasha Cooke's performance is awesome. The hall ambiance is exquisite and complete. The width and height of the soundstage is transcendental. The Colburn Orchestra has weight and power and is most convincing. My notes go on and on with superlatives. This great LP and cartridge combine to become a real treat for the music lover.
To test trackability, I played the Mercury HiFi Espanola from Classic Records and Bernie Grundman. It is a devil of a tough slog, particularly on the inner grooves. The Mammoth Gold made expert work of the tough crowded grooves, and never ever blurred or homogenized the instruments. Soundstaging was superior in every way. Though 33 RPM, one could easily mistake this LP for 45 RPM! The Mammoth Gold remained neutral and musical at all velocities, yielding unmistakable sophistication and tonal beauty with every note.
Quibbles
Yes, the Mammoth Gold is low output, but it is also very quiet. You must have a top phono stage to do the Mammoth Gold justice. As an experienced audiophile, you should have no trouble mounting and tweaking this cartridge.
Summary
Designed and constructed in California by extraordinary technicians from many countries worldwide, the Aidas Mammoth Gold Phono Cartridge is a mammoth success. I can think of no other cartridge under ten grand that bests it in musicality, trackability, dynamics, soundstaging, or neutrality. Expensive, but if you can afford it, you will love it.
I am most grateful to David Weinhart for bringing Victor Simakov to the Weinhart Design Event, and am thrilled to see superb cartridges like the Mammoth Gold made in America. I recommend readers go to https://virahighend.com/aidas-phono-cartridges and peruse the other gorgeous cartridges in the line-up. The wood body versions look spectacular. Arias has quite a sense of style and beauty that is comparable to Koetsu's exotic cartridges. Except, I should say, the superb tracking of the highly neutral Mammoth Gold outperforms any Koetsu in this comparable price range.
If you are shopping for an ultimate cartridge, the Aidas Mammoth Gold Phono Cartridge is most highly recommended. Made in America, it is an extraordinary find, and available now.
Aidas Mammoth Gold Phono Cartridge
Retail: $8500
Victor Simakov, Vira USA LLC
206 Spruce Street
Tehachapi, CA 93561
310.806.2854
