Groovy Picture

bimasta,

You raise an interesting question.  I don't know if there are many modern advances in cartridge design.  Fundamentally, design has not changed in a long time.  Even the exotic forms, such as optical cartridges (light source, shade attached to the cantilever, and photoelectric sensor); and field-effect transistor cartridges have been around for some time.  So, it really comes down to a question of whether there has been any significant refinements or variations on existing basic models.

The notable one, to me, is Audiotechnica's ART 1000 cartridge which attaches very tiny coils to the tip end of the cartridge (just behind the stylus).  As far as I know, this is a unique design.  I think the cartridge sounds quite good.  I heard it in a setup which usually features Koetsu cartridges.  By comparison, it is a leaner sounding cartridge than typical Koetsu cartridges.  I liked its very lively presentation--it sounds quite dynamic.  

The notable one, to me, is Audiotechnica's ART 1000 cartridge which attaches very tiny coils to the tip end of the cartridge (just behind the stylus). As far as I know, this is a unique design.

The ART 1000 is similar to the Neumann DST:
http://www.badenhausen.com/images/Neumann1.gif

Ketchup,

Thanks for the really interesting Neumann sketch.  It certainly looks like a similar design, with the magnetic pole pieces and the coils oriented differently.  

@chakster

It is the n91ed, LP gear have it listed at $199.95.

https://www.lpgear.com/product/e007424.html

Boron/aluminum cantilever from the specs.

All reviews says it takes 40 hours or so to lose its initial brightness and for mid and bass to bloom. Just starting to hear some of that on last album I played.

@larryi

The notable one, to me, is Audiotechnica’s ART 1000 cartridge which attaches very tiny coils to the tip end of the cartridge (just behind the stylus). As far as I know, this is a unique design.

Audio-Technica ART-1000 designer was inspired not by Neumann, they are inspired by Japanese design invented in the 70’s by VICTOR for Direct Coupled cartridges such as MC-1

It’s accuracy and reliability are extremely high, while unit per unit variations are minimised. The weight is almost a one hundredth that of conventional coils. Employment of a coreless coil eliminates the possibility of magnetostrition. The magnetic circuit is constructed of a samarium cobalt magnet and an iron cobalt yoke in the vertical configuration for obtaining an excellent magnetic efficiency so that the merit of the direct-coupled construction can be fully utilised. Shibata (0.1mm square diamond) on Beryllium cantilever, output 0.2mV, frequency response from 10Hz to 50000Hz. Hard to find in working condition nowadays, an old printed coil is fragile. I’ve bought 3 samples and only 1 of them is working! (I asked Peter Ledermann and he said it can be impossible to fix the coil, but he could check).  

Victor developed this techniques further in the 80’s with next models such as MC-10 and MC-L1000

If i remember correct when M.Fremer visited Audio-Technica in Japan they said they are inspired by Victor design.