Classification of Benz Micro cartridges

Looking into this a little more, I think the new Wood S H, S M and S L are the new S design whereas the Ebony H/L/TR are an older design. So, I think there is more than just a wood change between the Ebony and Wood lines. But is hard to figure out the exact details.

"Albert Lukaschek of Benz Micro and Garth Leerer of Musical Surroundings announce a new series of phono cartridges, the S Class. Led by the new flagship LP S cartridge, introducing the SLR Gullwing and joined by new versions of the Wood Body, Glider and ACE cartridges, the S Class furthers the performance, selection and value of the Benz Micro line."

More details here -

http://www.musicalsurroundings.com/benz.html

I wanted to edit my previous post but didn't know how. Everything I had said is accurate except for this sentence...

"Benz Wood SL, Wood SM, Wood SH are the same as the Ebony, Ebony TR, and Ebony H but uses the Bruyere Wood vs. the Ebony Wood bodies."

The outputs and internal impedances are different from both the Ebony TR and the Ebony L and therefore different from the Wood SL and Wood SM. However, Garth did tell me that the only difference between the Ebony H and the Wood SH is the type of wood body and that Mr. Lukaschek prefers the sound of the Ebony body.

I hope this clears up my previous post.

Thank you.

All very helpful, but it still seems a pretty confused way of building a line of cartridges.

They cover a wide price range - from $250 to $5,000 with 8 price points. Like the vast majority of companies with a wide product range, they change part of the line at a time. In doing so, they end up with mixed technologies across the line. Compare that to a speaker company or a turntable company with a wide range of offerings. At any one time, they generally have a mixture of new and older products in the line, with varying technologies. In general, Benz provides 2 or 3 output levels at a given price - something a lot of cartridge companies do not do. The exceptions are the flagship Ebony LP (only 1 option) and the $3,500 line where they have wood (Ebony TR/M/L) and non-wood (Ruby). Although it takes a little more research to find the right product, I like the range of options they provide, especially since they have trade in/trade up pricing options.

Well, I have ordered a Benz Ebony LP from the UK importer, with a good dicount at the moment. Thanks for your help.