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Sota+SME IV=Ugh !!!

Greetings,
I’m driving myself crazy, once again! I’m trying to determine which of the below wood body cartridges will give me the warmest, richest, and most romantic sound. Detail and attack are secondary. I listen to a lot of female jazz vocalists, and classical music. My room is rather bright (a lot of glass and hardwood flooring).

My components:
Sota Star Sapphire w/ SME Series IV
Conrad Johnson Premier 16 pre, Premier 12 monos, CJ’s EF1 Phono pre
Tannoy Turnberry Speakers
Stealth PGS I/C’s
VandenHul Bi wire

My Options for a cartridge:
Clear Audio Maestro
Grado (Reference or Sonata)
Benz SH Woodbody
As suggested…

Want to stay with wood body and around $1,000 - $1,400 in cost. Thanks so much for any opinions put forth!
rbschauman
br3098
996 posts
 
You system seems like it is already pretty warm and lush sounding. Adding warmth through the cartridge is not going to do anything to tame reflections and room node issues.

If you really want to add warmth, an Ortofon Classic SPU Royal N or SPU N E will add it in spades. I will also second the recommendation for the Grado cartridges - the Reference and Master series are very warm and lush.

But... given that your system appears to be so warm already, if it were me I might try something else. Maybe a Benz Glider or Wood, or one of the Ortofon Cadenzas. For a little less money, a Soundsmith Aida or Ortofon 2M Black are also a great match for that tonearm.
jtimothya
612 posts
 
Interesting ...

Circa 1986 the SME V debuted on the Star Sapphire. It made the cover of Stereophile and J Gordon Holt *really* like it. The table was voiced with SME arms. You might contact the SOTA folks in Illinois for their thoughts.

I'd pick the Sonata.
 
manitunc
795 posts
 
I have used the SME on Sota Sapphire, Star and Cosmos with uniformly great results. When Sota was in its early stages, they often bundled their tables with an SME
maineiac
649 posts
 
I had a clearaudio maestro before and it does what you are looking for and it is a great cartridge.
peterayer
1,382 posts
 
I agree that the Sumiko Celebration is a good option. It was designed using an SME V arm. I had the combination until I recently bought an AirTight PC-1. There is a well written review of the Celebration in an old issue of TAS. The Celebration, IMO, is slightly warm of neutral and has good bass performance and detail. It does not overly extended in the high frequencies and I think it is a good value for about $2K.
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