How Does the Soundsmith

Doug,

I suspect that what you heard at RMAF was not an accurate representation of the cartridges, but rather the systems they were being presented in. The Soundsmith cartridges you mention are clearly more articulate than the Universe. The Universe is a fine cartridge and it would not surprise me if others would prefer it to the Voice. But I don't think anyone who has heard them side by side would find the Universe more articulate regardless of their overall preferences.

I have no idea what you are referring to regarding collapsing harmonic overtones. What I hear from the Voice is very extended, detailed treble that is remarkably clean and therefore easy on the ears. Not easy on the ears because is has been smoothed, rolled off or lacking information.

I believe that the reason for the smoothness on the top end is due to the very light moving mass in the Voice, and more so in the Strain Gauge. Both of these cartridges have far less moving mass than a good MC. What I like about the Voice is similar to what I hear from Plasma tweeters. Again due, I believe, to low mass (essentially zero for the plasma tweeters).

Hi,

I suppose I agree with Doug. He heard the Voice on my turntable, and I admit that it was a bit romantic sounding when compared to a cartridge like the Lyra Olympos. That said, it cost significantly less money than the near unobtanium Olympos. I find it to be an excellent cartridge for the money spent, and that is really what we should be considering. Can you buy a better cartridge for less? Maybe, but it wouldn't be easy.

Win
Saskia Turntables

Dear Doug: +++++ " the Voice is very extended, detailed treble that is remarkably clean and therefore easy on the ears. " +++++

with the right set-up this Teres statement is a characteristic of top MM/MI performers. These type of cartridges ( like I posted several times. ) IMHO have very low overall distortion when you compare against its " brothers " LOMC ones, I repeat lower distortion not " collapsed harmonics " or smoothness ( soft ). Other MM/MI characteristic that Teres point out is: " more articulate ", I can add " better articulate " than almost any LOMC cartridge in any price range.

The term " romantic " that Mosin posted seems to me more an " artefact " of somewhere ( audio links ) the audio system than a cartridge characteristic and a result of the overall audio system performance.IMHO and through sevral years of attend to live music events I never experienced a " romantic " presentation ", any one of you can attest about: hear a single/alone instrument ( live ) like piano, guitar, horn, voice, etc at no more than a normal home audio system seat position ( 2.5m/3.0m ) and you will see what I'm talking about. Some kind of music could tend to sound " romantic " maybe at 30-40m.

Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.

The Universe is a very good cartridge but it is not among the finest available as inferred in an earlier post. To that extent I agree wholeheartedly with Teres.

Let's be very clear on this as folks having very limited experience with other products have furthered this erroneous agenda in these forums.

For the record, I own a Universe and enjoy the product despite its' limitations and shortcomings

I did not mean to denigrate the Universe. It is among the very best that I have heard and was my reference for a number of years. I happen to prefer the Voice in my system and with my tastes. The question was how the Voice compares with expensive MC's. I think it compares favorably.