Vinyl Asylum: Soundsmith Strain Gauge Cartridge by slk

I received the first production Soundsmith strain gauge system and have been enjoying it for five weeks. I first heard it in an excellent audio system in Florida in June. At that gathering we compared some of the finest moving coil cartridges in existence. We also enjoyed the Soundsmith "The Voice," a cartridge wonderfully detailed and open sounding: an unbelievable value. The strain gauge was Peter Lederman's prototype with a plastic body, ruby cantilever, and line contact stylus. We actually tried two other cantilever/stylus configurations but the ruby/line contact was preferable. At that time the strain gauge demonstrated a sense of air and openness that none of the moving coil cartridges could even approach. The presentation was very detailed, comparable with the best of the moving coils, the Lyra Olympos.

In July Peter shipped the prototype to Colorado for listening in two very revealing horn systems. Both have state of the art turntables with Schroder Reference tonearms and, in one case, a Lyra Olympos cartridge. In our super-dynamic high efficiency horn systems the strain gauge really strutted its stuff. It exhibited the same ambience we heard in Florida but now presented detail even surpassing the Olympos. The music really drew us in. We had the prototype for 3 weeks and reached the same conclusion regarding the ruby/line contact stylus.

Peter exhibited the strain gauge at the Rocky Mountain AudioFest, with the system playing in 3 rooms including his own. I was impressed with the sound in Peter's room but it was considerably less resolving than the two horn systems in Fort Collins. The beauty of the strain gauge was obvious. The other two rooms did not successfully showcase the magic of this cartridge.

After the show a bunch of us hung out in Fort Collins for a few days to relax and listen to some music. Peter and Frank S set up my strain gauge which I ordered with the aluminum body. All of the production models come with a new version of the elastomer which improves the high end extension considerably. Initially the openness we heard over the summer was not as seductive. The sound was very detailed, very similar to the Olympos. While Peter was flying back to the right coast he remembered placing two resistors which limited the overtones over 20K. When these were removed the magic returned. The sound was similar to what we appreciated over the summer but it had much better high end extension without producing any fatigue.

After the rest of the gang left I continued to listen daily and noticed a progressive improvement with break-in. About a week ago I played a Naim recording of Antonio Forcione called "Dedicato." He plays a nylon stringed guitar and there are a few other instruments including a double bass. The guitarist was sitting about 6 feet in front of me as a life-like image. The corner horns literally disappeared as all of the music was coming from directly in front. Horns, even at their best, rarely present an image like this. The decay of the notes was so fast and crisp that this was the closest I have come to the "real thing" in years of evolving my system. A few days ago I raised the VTA slightly to compensate for some relaxation of the cantilever with break-in and it added some "juice" while maintaining the detail and dynamics.

One might get the idea that I'm impressed.

Enjoy

Steve