The Aida employs a single crystal Ruby Cantilever and our Optimized Contour Line Contact Stylus; Soundsmith did this to resolve the challenges of playing the inner grooves with the same level of confidence as the outer. How did they do this? The unique stylus shape of our OCL stylus has a sharper playing surface on the faceted diamond, allowing it to ride easily in the groove modulations of even the most difficult passages and high frequency information that other cartridges simply cannot trace. The result - a truly superb cartridge, surpassing top MC designs with air, focus and sound staging no cartridge at this price should be able to achieve.