DS Audio TB-100 Brings Valve Amplification to Optical Cartridges

Although many eyebrows were raised when DS Audio debuted its optical cartridges in 2013, the Japanese brand has found many fans and yet remains the only optical cartridge creator worldwide. Continuing to forge its own innovative path, it now offers the new TB-100 phono equaliser, designed to partner with any of DS Audio's optical cartridges from entry-level to top-of-range.

Not long after recently unveiling the company's latest third-generation optical phono cartridge technology, designer Tetsuaki Aoyagi has turned his attention to the sound quality of tube amplification.

The TB-100 phono equaliser is a dual mono, single-ended design with RCA outputs. It features four selectable bass curves and uses quad-matched ECC82 (12AU7) dual-triode valves apparently optimised for this model. We're told that to ensure "peak performance" the design benefits from "in-house tools" to minimise any variations in the tubes during operation to within 1% (or 0.1dB).

Each channel has its own independent ground and power transformers, a dedicated input valve for voltage amplification, and a second tube to buffer the output. This minimalist two-stage architecture, alongside optical cartridge technology, promises a "highly transparent, rich, pure and dynamic audio experience," according to the brand.

The TB-100 converts the audio signal from the optical cartridge's photoelectric cells (one per channel) from a current to a voltage signal, ensuring precise phase alignment between the left and right channels. Furthermore, we're told that the TB-100's design achieves a flat frequency response within -1dB over a claimed bandwidth of 10Hz to 70kHz.

A dedicated low-noise regulated power supply is included for LED power and the photoelectric cells' negative bias voltage. Separate power circuits and transformers for each photoelectric cell should guarantee voltage stability is supplied to the cartridge.

The DS Audio TB-100 phono equaliser is available now, priced at £17,500 / €19,999 / US$20,000.

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