Garrott vs Soundsmith


I've been thinking about a new cart.Soundsmith Carmen 2Garrott Brothers p77i or Optim FGS
Let the opinions fly
ttocs1269
Dear chakster, I first thought that this story was written by Reto 
Andreoli, the third  (youngest) brother. At the age of 15 and
speaking only German he went to Australia with the intention to learn
the art from the masters. He was accepted and learned the trade
very fast. He was as passionate cartridges lover as you are .
After their tragic dead he returned to Switzerland and started his
own ''one man' company. He become known with his exclusive
cartridges among which the Magic Dimond. But he also produce
amps, pre-amps , etc. all done by himself . He also wrote some
articles in HIFI Magazine explaining his approach to analog 
reproduction. I am not aware if he published anything in English
but if you read German I will post his writing to you.
''Our own'' Dover can probably explain more technical stuff about
Andreoli as well his ''theoretical'' opinions. He owns , if I remember
well , his pre-amp. 
I'm a fan of the Garrott P77i as well. I bought one a couple of years ago, and it is excellent. My first Garrott cartridge was in in 1981, when the Brothers modified my Decca Gold. I still have that with the original paperwork.
Dear chakster, I first thought that this story was written by Reto
Andreoli, the third (youngest) brother. At the age of 15 and
speaking only German he went to Australia with the intention to learn
the art from the masters. He was accepted and learned the trade
very fast. He was as passionate cartridges lover as you are .
After their tragic dead he returned to Switzerland and started his
own ’’one man’ company. He become known with his exclusive
cartridges among which the Magic Dimond.

@nandric

Oh, thanks for letting me know, as always it is hard to find even a website of his company in the digital world :) He’s living in analog worlds without a website or even a page in social media (as i can read in the press) and making cartridges (no OEM parts anymore, wow). I’ve heard about Magic Diamond cartridges from you here on audiogon.

As i can see his full name is Reto Luigi Andreoli and he’s the guy behind MicroMagic/Bluelectric (Switzerland).

Luckily i can read Russian , here is an interview with Mr. Andreoli .
Not surprised to read why he prefer MM over MC when he’s talking about Shake Streamliner cartridge.


Very interesting read, here is more in russian about him and his cartridges, more technical details about cartridge design preferences, about the weakness of OEM parts etc. Some information he shared only with his official Russian distributor by private emails.
We have very strong audiophile scene here, thanks to those guys for publishing.

I hope those of you who can’t read Russian could use google translate for both articles.
I enjoyed reading those articles, bravo Mr. Andreoli !