DS Audio TB-100 Brings Valve Amplification to Optical Cartridges

Heralding "a new era of analogue sound," DS Audio launches its TB-100 tube phono equaliser to partner the company's 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.
Visit DS-Audio for more information

Jay Garrett
StereoNET’s resident rock star, bass player, and gadget junkie. Jay heads up StereoNET as Editor for the United Kingdom and Europe regions. His passion for gadgets and Hi-Fi is second only to being a touring musician.
Posted in: Hi-Fi
JOIN IN THE DISCUSSION
Want to share your opinion or get advice from other enthusiasts? Then head into the Message
Forums where thousands of other enthusiasts are communicating on a daily basis.
CLICK HERE FOR FREE MEMBERSHIP
Trending
applause awards
Each time StereoNET reviews a product, it is considered for an Applause Award. Winning one marks it out as a design of great quality and distinction – a special product in its class, on the grounds of either performance, value for money, or usually both.
Applause Awards are personally issued by StereoNET’s global Editor-in-Chief, David Price – who has over three decades of experience reviewing hi-fi products at the highest level – after consulting with our senior editorial team. They are not automatically given with all reviews, nor can manufacturers purchase them.
The StereoNET editorial team includes some of the world’s most experienced and respected hi-fi journalists with a vast wealth of knowledge. Some have edited popular English language hi-fi magazines, and others have been senior contributors to famous audio journals stretching back to the late 1970s. And we also employ professional IT and home theatre specialists who work at the cutting edge of today’s technology.
We believe that no other online hi-fi and home cinema resource offers such expert knowledge, so when StereoNET gives an Applause Award, it is a trustworthy hallmark of quality. Receiving such an award is the prerequisite to becoming eligible for our annual Product of the Year awards, awarded only to the finest designs in their respective categories. Buyers of hi-fi, home cinema, and headphones can be sure that a StereoNET Applause Award winner is worthy of your most serious attention.