Curious about "Soundsmith" cartridges????

china · « **on:** 26 Feb 2009, 08:45 am »

Hello AudioCircle,

The subject of "Curious about "Soundsmith" cartridges", just about covers it???
Does anyone have any experience with the "Soundsmith" cartridges??? If so???
I would like to hear about what you liked and/or disliked.
I have read some of the reviews and really have not made up my mind.
So I would like to have a little help, one way or the other.

As always, all the best.

China

wilsynet · « **Reply #1 on:** 26 Feb 2009, 04:12 pm »

All the question marks in the title of the thread make it sound like "If you are curious about Soundsmith cartridges, then read this thread". Perhaps the title of the post should instead be "Seeking advice on Soundsmith cartridges" without all the gratuitous question marks. =)

JCC · « **Reply #2 on:** 26 Feb 2009, 04:20 pm »

I suggest that you read my post on What Makes a Cartridge Special, which I posted on the Vinyl Circle earlier in February. This is a story about my Soundsmith modified ZYX, which I love. The URL is below.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=63781.0

woodsyi · « **Reply #3 on:** 26 Feb 2009, 04:29 pm »

Go for the gusto and get the whole Strain Gauge thing. I was very impressed with it at RMAF. I hope Peter is doing well. Anybody heard about how he is doing?

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #4 on:** 26 Feb 2009, 05:12 pm »

Quote from: woodsyi on 26 Feb 2009, 04:29 pm

Go for the gusto and get the whole Strain Gauge thing. I was very impressed with it at RMAF. I hope Peter is doing well. Anybody heard about how he is doing?

Are you going Strain Gauge now, woodsyi?

It's such a costly endeavor...I've thought about it, but really wonder how much benefit over low Z cartridges there would be(?) I gotta' hear one to know I realize

John

woodsyi · « **Reply #5 on:** 26 Feb 2009, 05:49 pm »

No, I am not going there as I have too much invested in my "conventional" set up, but I was very impressed by the system when I heard it. It would be a contender if I started from scratch today.

JCC · « **Reply #6 on:** 26 Feb 2009, 06:11 pm »

I have not heard the Strain Gauge. I only know what happened to my ZYX, where the improvement was phenomenol.

I spoke to Peter after the show, and he is sounded like he was doing well.

lofreek · « **Reply #7 on:** 27 Feb 2009, 03:41 pm »

I had Soundsmith repair and rebuild my Dynavector. While Peter was working on it, he called me with updates, describing the process with enthusiasm, as if it were his very own. He again called when he was testing it and was so excited about how far beyond factory spec it was performing. The man knows his cartridges and loves his work.

The strain gauge system is very intriguing, but at this moment, my Dynavector is performing very well and I have no interest in upgrading, even if I could afford it!

James Romeyn · « **Reply #8 on:** 1 Mar 2009, 05:18 am »

At CES '09 the higher up the FR the more aggressive & forward Peter's SG sounded; it seemed to be only a FR imbalance, maybe Peter's preference or maybe someone's hearing was a little off that day.

Beyond that I'm a huge fan of SG technology & am familiar w/ the capability (read below). Beyond & in spite of the above described problem the inherent greatness & superiority of SG was present in Peter's demo.

I have two Panasonic SE-405 demodulators & three matching carts. I have owned many great carts including Ortofon MC20, $800 (early 90s) Clearaudio, Koetsu Black, Supex SD900 Super (still miss all these) & others. I also owned RIAA such as the legendary John Curl Vendetta & Bongiorno's SST Ambrosia. At shows I've attended & worked at I have carefully auditioned the best carts & phono pres.

RIAA can not touch a properly setup SG; it is apples & oranges. (Since that time I've come to own one of the world's great tables & must add that the table can make a greater difference than that of the cartridge.) IIRC RIAA has +20 dB bass EQ & my understanding is that SG has none (don't know how SG achieves flat FR w/o EQ). SG feeds +6 VDC to the cartridge (don't ask me why) & of course nothing of the kind occurrs in RIAA.

Every vinyl junkie who heard my SG when it was running right agreed that it had a unique character that appeared to supercede their RIAA experience. My best description is that SG is the best of digital (flat linear nuetral FR in the best sense) w/ the natural musical quality & spectacular imaging/staging of the best analog. I worked at the Sausalito Record Plant, San Francisco Different Fur & other studios. SG is the closest I know of to a mic or master tape feed.

Unfortunately, for unknown reasons, all three of my cantilevers disconnected from the stylus body (stylii plug in-out of the cartridge body ala MM carts). I intend to call Peter & talk to him about a retip ASAP; unfortunately I heard the lead time is currently long.

I bet Peter's lead time is less than the TWELVE YEAR lead time for the USA's premier classical guitar luthier (can't remember the luthier's name; my luthier Ryan Thorell mentioned this to me yesterday).

woodsyi · « **Reply #9 on:** 2 Mar 2009, 01:02 am »

I got this used unit to check out SG in person.
http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgcart&1240916959
I don't know how much better Peter's system is but I figure I can get a sense of the SG sound with this one.

Berndt · « **Reply #10 on:** 2 Mar 2009, 02:17 pm »

Quote from: woodsyi on 2 Mar 2009, 01:02 am

I got this used unit to check out SG in person.
http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgcart&1240916959
I don't know how much better Peter's system is but I figure I can get a sense of the SG sound with this one.

standing by for your SG report.

Berndt · « **Reply #11 on:** 2 Mar 2009, 02:18 pm »

FWIW, Soundsmith gets top marks from people I respect for retipping .

PumaCat · « **Reply #12 on:** 3 Mar 2009, 03:19 am »

I talked to Soundsmith today...they should be getting to my Grace F9E Ruby in 10-14 days....they've had it since late October.

woodsyi · « **Reply #13 on:** 3 Mar 2009, 01:02 pm »

Yea, it takes a while. My Airy 3 took 4 months but it was good when I got it back.

Bill, I will let you know how the RAM SG with Panny cart goes. I am sure Peter has improved upon his design since the RAM days but I am thinking I should be able to hear the "house" sound.

JCC · « **Reply #14 on:** 4 Mar 2009, 08:26 pm »

Quote from: Stephen Scharf on 3 Mar 2009, 03:19 am

I talked to Soundsmith today...they should be getting to my Grace F9E Ruby in 10-14 days....they've had it since late October.

It took some months for mine, but when Peter started working on it, it was quick. He called me one evening, and low and behold it was shipping the next day. Then when I got it installed, there was a lot to go through (azimuth, vta, tracking force). The tracking force was much less than the stock unit. But after figuring this out, the unit started to sing beautifully.

kenreau · « **Reply #15 on:** 19 May 2009, 04:40 am »

Can anyone comment from experience listening to a Soundsmith cartridge? In particular the SMMC1/Aida or SMMC2/Boheme?

I'm just getting back in to vinyl and these are in my budget range. My big dillema is the age old MM vs MC design. The Soundsmith write ups sure read like their MM designs have conquered all the benefits of going with a MC. I was considering MC cartridges like a Shelter 501 II or Dynavector 17D3 but once you add in the SUT or capable phono pre the cost gets prohibitive.

Thanks
Ken

bpape · « **Reply #16 on:** 19 May 2009, 11:30 am »

The Soundsmith setup with SG at RMAF was truly something special.

Bryan

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #17 on:** 19 May 2009, 02:31 pm »

Quote from: kenreau on 19 May 2009, 04:40 am

I'm just getting back in to vinyl and these are in my budget range. My big dillema is the age old MM vs MC design. The Soundsmith write ups sure read like their MM designs have conquered all the benefits of going with a MC.

Ken,

An (hi-output) moving magnet will always fail at two important parameters relative to moving coils....that is, they have relatively higher levels of resistance and inductance. It's probably these two electrical realities that vinylphools hear and often prefer about MC's.

Low resistance allows more signal to pass. Low inductance makes the cartridge impervious to the effects of added capacitance of your IC(s), phone preamp and the like....and also makes for an (internally) quieter motor that allows a lower noise floor to emerge.

Really (and I'm not trying to be a pimp here for them) - the Grado's are the sole cartridge brand that is a hybrid of the two technologies. It offers fairly low inductance and resistance figures with the natural purity that MM's often exhibit relative to MC's. When you move to their lower output/Statement Grado Woody line, you get world class levels of low resistance (which no MC can match at any cost) and fairly low inductance levels (tho still 40x higher than MC's of similar output)

It's the closest brand of MM/MI to a moving coil - a real hybrid of sorts. Go to www.gradolabs.com and click on cartridges / Grado Theory. Much is explained there.

SoundSmith's Bang & Olufsen inspired line of cartridges is a (reportedly) very good line of moving iron cartridges.....but, really cannot offer what really good moving coils can and do. The SG/Strain Gauge that Bryan Pape mentions about is a different (and more expensive) beast entirely from their hi-output moving iron line of product.

John

kenreau · « **Reply #18 on:** 20 May 2009, 04:21 pm »

Thanks for the info. John!

I imagine if the Soundsmith MM were so great and/or at least equal to a good MC, the news would have been sweeping the forums and reviews by now. I guess I'll stay to the tried and true MC path.

Thanks
Kenreau

Berndt · « **Reply #19 on:** 20 May 2009, 04:27 pm »

I listened to a voice at a friends house and it was not a good match for the empire rega rb300 combination.
I believe he sells different compliance configurations though.
Regards, Bill