Hi Paul,
Here’s a rundown of my thoughts on the wood Benzes I’ve owned:
- Benz Wood 2M, SM (caramel colored Bruyere wood with swirly grain) - These are now discontinued. They have a lively, pleasing and fun sound with a little warmth in the mids. Not as refined, smooth, or detailed as the other Benzes on this list.
- Zebrawood L (new 2020 model to replace old "Wood" series) - Really nice cartridge for the price. Easy to work with in most system configurations. Great sonic balance, not too warm, not too bright. Definitely better than prior Wood series. This cart is probably the easiest Benz recommendation!
- Ebony L (replaces old "Reference" series) - A real chameleon. In some system configs this cart ends up a little leaner than I’d like in mids and bass, with top end a little too sharp. BUT is pairs brilliantly with gear that has gives very powerful bass response combined with a slightly relaxed (or at least flat) top end, like the Quadratic MC-1 SUT, the ARC Reference preamp & phono, or Apollo Dark monoblocks (in various combinations). When paired just right, the Ebony L exceeds the Zebrawood L. When the Ebony is really ON it competes even with my Koetsu Blue Lace. But the Zebrawood doesn’t require as careful system matching.
- LPS - This cartridge is hard to work with in two ways. One, its huge mass (16g) requires a lot of counterweight on your arm. I used a Graham Phantom with extra counterweight. Two, it doesn’t sound its best with a SUT, which is my preferred device for MC gain. You will want an active JFET MC stage that has high gain AND very low noise. I put this cart away a while ago and haven’t tried it with my ARC Ref 3SE yet, which should be its optimal partner. Before that, I got best results from the cheap little Hagerman Trumpet MC stage, and it sounded very good this way - but was miffed I couldn’t get super results with my VAC phono stage .