Soundsmith cartridges

Mike, have you been using the Voice in current mode? Otherwise I’d think the inductance of the Hyperion might present a problem in current mode. DCR may be 10 ohms, but its inductance causes AC resistance or impedance to rise with frequency, which is why they recommend a 470 ohm load, minimum. So current output goes down as frequency goes up.

I’ve never been a fan of MC cartridges after owning many and prefer Soundsmith or Grado on my turntables. As mentioned above, Soundsmith offers the best value of any cartridge manufacturer due to its very generous rebuild policy.

Those that use Wally Tools and view their informative videos know that stylus mounting in cantilever errors (zenith) are fairly substantial in many cartridges with no correlation to price and with 14 degrees being the highest they measured. In fact, some of the worst errors have been with the most expensive cartridges tested. In general, they have stated that the best results have been with Soundsmith and Ortofon cartridges, a compelling reason to go with these brands if you aren’t willing to spend the $800 or so to send your cartridge to Wally Tools for measurement of zenith error so you can correct for it when mounting the cartridge with their zenith tool (included with the first cartridge you have measured).

I had Wally Tools evaluate my Soundsmith Sussurro MkII Gold cartridge. They found a 4.49 degree error, about twice the average and just under the maximum of 5 degrees that most tonearms will allow for correction. So much for generalizations and disappointing since Peter Lidermann hand built this expensive cartridge and must have noticed this error prior to shipping..

I’ve attached an informative video.

Stylus Zenith Error - What is it? Why is it a problem? How common is it?

Zenith error is a huge issue because most don’t know their cartridge has it, how much of it, and the capacity to correct for it.  Not many will send every cartridge to Wally. A 2 degree error will destroy alignment accuracy if ignored.

@vinylvalet,

Are you going to contact Peter to see what he says about your cartridge? 

Hopefully there is a way to upgrade the latest Mk2 ES to the new MR version.  Haven't seen any reviews on the new MR though.