I’ve owned several Benz over the past 15 years, still do. They’re consistently excellent (starting with Ace on up) and compete very well. I really like Benz - generally preferring them to their Euro counterparts Ortofon and VdH. I feel that the lower half of the Swiss-made line (Ace, Glider, Wood) is particularly strong on value. The ruby-plate models aren’t really my thing but they’re very nice too.
There was some sort of fallout with their NA distributor Musical Surroundings, circa early 2010s IIRC. Afterwards, gray market (e.g. far east) or used market was the way to get them here. Lots of rumors over why this happened - ranging from issues with the proprietor, to an inability to keep up with demand for this market (and no desire or ability to scale up). They say Mr. Lukaschek auditions every single Benz cartridge before it goes out the door.
More recently (since 2017-ish?) they were distributed in NA by Sierra Sound. I don’t know the current status of that, but Benz released a new Zebrawood model as recently as 2020 (it’s an updated replacement of the old Wood model). I believe Ace, Glider, and Wood models were discontinued during these years.
Of course Benz not being sold in NA for several years killed the review cycle. You certainly don’t see them being hyped by mags or online like (say) Hana. If they did get hyped like that, it’s quite possible they couldn’t keep up with demand anyways.
There may be rumors recently circling AGAIN about the status of Benz. I just heard something concerning on a Facebook group (0 verification so don't ask). And of course, Mr. Lukaschek is at that age, similar to Fumihiko Sugano of Koetsu (RIP).
