What do you think of your Soundsmith Cartridge

I have a  Zephyr MIMC, and completely agree with @fsonicsmith It's OK. For the price I would expect a lot more. Overall it's a little lacking, ok bass, mids are clear but not in your face, highs are a little soft. Overall it just doesn't excite. I like everything that Peter talks about and his knowledge seems to be top notch but the carts are just boring IMO. I've used Soundsmith for retipping on other carts and they do an excellent job, but I don't think I would get another cart in their lineup.

I'm having a similar experience with the Zephyr MIMC as @fsonicsmith and @jbny.  I like its ultra-natural presentation and really low groove noise which speaks to P. L.'s design goals. But I was hoping for more given the proposed advantages of low mass MI versus MC. I have it mounted on a Mørch DP-8 with a Pass XP-15 phono pre. The Zephyr is reminding me of an Ortorfon A90 without the top end extension?  I've put probably 150 hours on the cartridge.  I'm wondering if it needs more? Wondering what the Paua or Sussurro might add? I may need to triple check azimuth as well but I have other carts with "advanced" stylus profiles that sound great. I'll use my USB microscope to check.  

@req26161, did you decide to go fo a SoundSmith?

I have just mounted a Soundsmith Gold- modified DL 103 R, and I am extremely happy with it. Tonally it is very close to my Koetsu Coralstone, with a huge soundstage, explosive dynamics and very good bass. A bit more surface noise than the Koetsu, and maybe a tad less deep bass, but for the money it`s simply astounding.

My friend has a Soundsmith and a PH5

he has excellent results with a specific Bob's Devices step up transformer


why ARC doesn't go with a high gain setting For low output mc cartridges is completely beyond me

I have the Paua mkii. I had purchased a cadenza bronze and was not satsfied with the dry lower treble. The dynamics and Soundstage were OK but the Paua is in another league. Dynamics Soundstage are magnificent. More extended top to bottom. Voices are very liquid and have great seperation without losing detail. Was able to get in on the 50 percent off sale and the rebuild price makes it a great long term investment. You can still find this sale if you look around. I came from using Koetsu for years and Benz and dynavector before that. I am definitely in the soundsmith camp now