Anyone Heard the New Soundsmith Sussurro Cartridge

Dear Wurp: The SG does not conforms with the RIAA eq. with what almost every recording was made, so what reproduce is not what is in the recording but something different.

Slowlearner, first than all I'm a music lover and an audiophile. It is true that I have/own my self Phonolinepreamp design ( José and I. ) and that a few other people own it but I'm not on audio commercial business with.

My opinion on the subject is a simple/plain fact that IMHO I don't think that people who cares about music/audio need to hide it but to understand it.

Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.

Raul, the SG does conform to the RIAA EQ. But perhaps not as accurately as you think is necessary.

The beauty of the SG setup is that the mechanics of the transducer naturally produces EQ that is nearly the same as the RIAA curve. So the preamp only needs to do minimal EQ. This keeps the phase response intact. I suspect that not requiring heavy RIAA EQ is one of the reasons that the SG sounds good. A little amplitude error is far more favorable than the big phase errors you get from the RIAA EQ.

For the record I do not know if or how much the SG may deviate from the RIAA curve. I do know that it sounds excellent.

To the topic of the thread, I spent a lot of time listening to the Sussorro at RMAF. It is a superb cartridge, that is at home with the best. I have not heard it in a direct apples to apples comparison so I can't comment further.

Dear teres: Yes you are right: " not as accurately as you think is necessary ".

That is a nice and gentle way to say and " hide things " ( not on purpose ).

++++´" For the record I do not know if or how much the SG may deviate from the RIAA curve. " +++++

not much, according with Peter ( SG designer/builder. ): " only " a swing of 2 db from 50hz to 12khz, he does not say how much from 20hz to 50hz and for 12khz to 20khz that is the RIAA eq. standard frequency range ( 20hz to 20khz. ).

Btw, you can see here ( page 13. ) the SG RIAA eq. deviation graphic:
http://www.sound-smith.com/cartridges/article.pdf

Teres, this is only an opinion that has its foundation in facts not on subjective arguments.

As always could happen some opinions can be controversial. In this thread we have two or three opinions on the same cartridge ( Sussorro ) and in the same systems were the opinions are different, of course that those cartrridge opinions were a subjective ones where is more dificult to even opinions.

IMHO the good things on this forums comes normaly from controversy that normaly too almost always leave a learning line for almost all of us.

Teres, before I forgot and only for the record: here or in any other thread on the SG subject I never say/post that the cartridge sounds bad and you know why?: because IMHO that is not the main subject.
Anyway please digress and return to the Sussorro.

Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.

FWIW re:Soundsmith Strain Gauge cartridge.

As I recall, John Iverson and Sao Win both produced Strain Gauge cartridges (Win also produced a FET-based cartridge) that measured flat as compaired to RIAA curve through their included box, so it is possible.

Why the Soundsmith unit was not made to more closely conform to RIAA (if Peter's description of the SG response and the curves in the referenced article are representative) I am not sure...

Kevin

Getting back to the Sussuro and, hopefully ending Raul's latest attack, the Sussuro sounded much like the excellent sounding strain gauge, but I personally prefer the more full-bodied sound of the The Voice. Compared to the best digital sources (like SACD through exceptional players) the highs of the SG and Sussuro seem a little too open and fast to my ears. There's not even a touch of "hardness" but I think there's extra air in what I hear.

It could be that this presentation is more accurate, or that the SACD engineer toned this down vs. the LP engineer (it's so hard to tell), but I personally prefer The Voice based on what I've heard so far. In the interest of full disclosure I should say that I own The Voice Ebony.

Of course, I only heard the Sussurro in Peter's system at RMAF, rather than my own. My preference for The Voice is based on it being in my system. I didn't even listen to it in Peter's system and only heard the Sussoro and the SG in the Soundsmith systems. I'm using a Jeff Rowland pre-amp and Peter was using his own, which presents another point of difference.

I can say this, the Sussurro is a very good cartridge, BUT, like most any cartridge, your personal taste will have much to do with how much you like it.

Dave