SoundSmith cartridges how good?

I got a smmc2 from SS a few years back.
The stylus guard was not attached quite straight, making the stylus appear to be at an angle (although it was not) I emailed them and Peter was all over it, issuing a pickup for it and returning a perfect cartridge promptly.
He was professional, logical and showed a sense of urgency in making it right.
Dealing with him was a great experience, and that was on what most on this forum would consider to be a cheap, $700 cartridge.

People should be careful reading posts like ducati1098rr above. The more authoritative someone tries to sound the worse it is when it turns out their lack of actual experience has led them to a lot of flat out false conclusions.

I actually built a turntable https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 and in the process tried out and experienced first hand every tiny little bit of what goes into one. Just to take one small part, the bearing, I have modified it several times and so know exactly what affects what. Plinth, made several, tried em out, heard the differences. Motor, controller, suspension. Belts and drive mechanisms. Half a dozen iterations of each. Arm. Phono leads. I could go on and on. And on. It categorically is NOT the case that anyone can rank these things in order all neat and tidy. Certainly not the arm. Absolutely not the cartridge.

Would be nice to know what hands-on experience those claims are based on. If any. 

The Link is a Wealth of Information for SoundSmith, 
Read Shakti's Reports on all Three Pages, the broad range of experiences undertaken by this   Audio Enthusiast and HiFi Business Proprietor extend beyond any I know off. 

https://www.analog-forum.de/wbboard/index.php?thread/145907-shakti-besch%C3%A4ftigt-sich-mit-soundsm...

Just buy one of the Hanas and be happy...Great cartridges for the money.

I own a Paua II and love it. Absolutely no complaints. I also think that Peter L. has his head on straight regarding cartridge design and calibration. That meant a lot to me. Being a low compliance cartridge, however, you will realize a significant improvement using it in a higher mass arm even though Sound-Smith recommends anything between 7-29 gms.