Peter Ledermann speaking to the Connecticut Audio Society.


Peter's VPI HRX.


Soundsmith preamps. The small box on top is the upcoming lower - priced strain gauge preamp that lacks the cool monitoring
displays of the pricier models, but Peter says it sounds identical to them. In the background on the window sill are two
power supplies for SG cartridges.


The cartridge assembly room at Soundsmith.


Workstation where cantilevers and elastomers are attached to the iron cross that gives moving iron cartridges their name.
This station is also where stylii are inserted into cantilevers.


Another view of the iron assembly workstation.


Trays of stylus guards and cartridge bodies wait to be assembled.


The components of a Soundsmith MI cartridge.


Cartridge coil assemblies.


Workstation where coils are cold - welded to the output wires. The coil wires are a miniscule 1 mil in diameter.
Ledermann invented a new way to do the welding. Over 50,000 welds have been done with not one failure in the field!


Test bench for finished cartridges.


Bench where Soundsmith speakers are assembled.


Soundsmith's Neumann record cutting lathe.


The lathe's control panels. The left hand buttons start and stop the platter, turn on the drive to spiral the cutting head inward,
add a gap between tracks, and automatically cut the run - out groove. The buttons on the right set the speed. The rotary
controls at the bottom are for manually adjusting the groove pitch which is only done during direct - to - disc cutting.


Neumann cutting head.


Bottom view of cutting head. The amber hose carries helium to the head to cool it.


Soundsmith's primary lathe is equipped with the ultra - rare Technics replacement motor.

Rack of electronics for that drive the lathe and cutter head. Peter plans to replace the original Neumann cutting amps
with new ones of his own design. He's also planning to design his own inverse RIAA equalizer to replace the Neumann one.


Peter Ledermann cleaning the cutting stylus with acetone prior to cutting the John Hart dub. Note the smooth surface of the lacquer disc on the platter.


Soundsmith's Neumann lathe at work.


Peter's second Neumann lathe came from The Hit Factory. It's a historic machine - it was used to cut the masters for records
by The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Madonna.