Curious Why Benz Micro Slid Into Obscurity


I remember there was a time when Benz Micro was one of the more prominent cartridge manufacturers out there. The Ace and Glider sure were popular cartridges. Then there was a hiatus in production. The company recognition seems to have never recovered. There are still new cartridges for sale on the various sites. But none of ther upper tier cartridges seem to gather the same recognition or praise that the earlier cartridges did. 

Is perception of them changed that much, or is it the fact that the brand has aged out? Are the designs that dated to where people no longer believe quality and value are there?

neonknight

Benz is a private company that does not publish sales figures! So speculation is just guessing.

That is pretty much the definition of speculation....guessing. 

Yet this is observation. 

Go back and look at threads of recommend me a cartridge. The answers rarely, if ever say Benz Micro, and never a specific cartridge. We hear Hana, Dynavector, Koetsu, Ortofon, and Audio Technica on a regular basis. I cannot remember a Benz Micro recommendation. 

 

 

What’s written here is hardly of statistical significance, even if your casual observation is accurate. For one thing, the topic of “what cartridge “ as posed here usually is to a price point of $1K or less. The top Benz cartridges ain’t cheap.

@lewm You have statistical support for the claim that "what cartridges" are at a price point of $1K or less? Even so that category used to be one where the ACE was a major player. Looks like the current model is about $900.

It just struck me as odd that such an iconic company has become so unnoticed. Perhaps this is not so on the European boards, I do not frequent them. But on the sites I have visited they are rarely discussed anymore, at least that is what I see.

 

PS The top models of any moving coil manufacturer ain’t cheap either.