Soundsmith cartridges

@lewm 

I just asked Peter that question and he responded yesterday, on a Holiday no less. He does make a Current Mode version of the Hyperion but he prefers the Voltage Mode version. When I had the Voice I was using an AR phono stage. My Seta L Plus has both TI and Voltage operation, switchable on the front panel. The loading switches for Voltage Mode are on the back panel. 

@rdk777 

You sure can. The coils and magnets are identical. A rebuild replaces everything that moves. I do not think there will be much of a change. The Hyperion already has an excellent stylus. The micro ridge stylus might track very high frequencies better, but we can't hear that high. 

One wonders what the inductance of a low output MI might be, to render it useable with current driven phono stages. Very interesting.

@lewm 

I was wondering that also but I did not feel like bothering him asking for the specifics. He thinks the voltage mode works better so I went with that.

I’m thinking if you reduce the voltage output significantly, so that fewer turns of wire are needed to generate the lower signal voltage (and also resulting in a lower internal R and inductance), then it might be possible to mate the Hyperion to a current driven phono, but as you reduce voltage out, you need to hope for a greater loss of internal R and inductance, so as to get a net increase in current output at audio frequencies. You did the right thing; just use conventional voltage drive.

I was underwhelmed at first by the Sussurro MkII ES. I played with the loading and found it helped a bit, but it never really came alive until I used an SUT. At that point it became a very neutral but detailed cartridge, not quite as dynamic as a Decca, not as rich and warm as a Benz, but worth hanging onto for when one of my mainstays goes for a re-tip.