Strain Gauge cartridge at Heathrow Show

I am pleased to confirm that we will be demonstrating the Soundsmith Strain Gauge cartridge at the Heathrow Show on Friday and Saturday.

We will also have the new Soundsmith HE-150 power amp and Monarch stand mount speakers, so that we can re-create the system that has been causing a bit of a stir at audio shows in the US.

More details on our website.

 

Hi,

Interesting stuff! Nice looking cartridge. How good is it?

Having looked on the Soundsmith website, it is not cheap! How much do you plan to sell them for?

SCIDB

 

I don't want to hype the cartridge in advance - I would much prefer people to come along, listen and make their own minds up.

That being said, I first heard the Strain Gauge about 18 months ago and I had never heard anything like it from vinyl. Words like insightful, palpable, fast and dynamic come to mind.

It's something of a culture shock if your ears are used to moving coils because it's tighter and somehow cleaner. When set up "just right" I'm blown away by the clarity of vocals - singers like Eleanor McEvoy and Stacey Kent can torture some cartridges but not this one.

Pricing - well it's a lot of kit (and performance) for the money - the preamp is a full size unit and effectively replaces a phono stage and line stage and I'd say that the cartridge does things that most top of the range models (e.g. £2,500) can't.

Attempting to set a retail price has been a nightmare over the last few weeks with the turmoil in the financial markets. Our goal is to set the price so that it costs a UK buyer the same as if he were buying direct from the US and paying shipping, import duty and VAT. So compared to most imports from the US it's priced, if not cheaply, fairly. I'll have to finalise prices by Saturday!

Ralph

 

Hi Ralph,

Thanks for the reply. Which model will you have at the show? The cheapest is $7,499.95 (SG-400) and the most expensive is $14,999.95 (SG-810). Which ones have you heard?

The cheapest would cost in the region £4700ish? & the most expensive £9400ish? It's not the sort of thing that is going to sell by the bucket load. But there are expensive cartridges like the Audionote IoLtd which is £8950 + power supply at £3950 which people have liked.

I look forward to having a listen.

SCIDB

 

I have the SG-610 which has an additional line input, the cartridge performance displays, variable intensity display lighting and remote volume control.

All the models sound the same - the cartridge and audio circuits are identical in all of the models in the range.

I chose a 610 so that I can demonstrate the display features - if I had been buying purely for my own listening pleasure I would have happily gone with an SG-400 and bought more music with the savings!

As long as the exchange rate stays as it is I will be announcing prices lower than your forecast! It's obviously a specialist product, however there will be people (like me) who will be blown away by the Strain Gauge and will have to have one.

The Artisan Audio idea is to make available alternative designs (usually from smaller manufacturers) that sound really good and provide some choice (and hopefully competition) alongside the ultra-commercial brands.

Ralph

 

Hi Ralph,

Thanks for the replys.

It is good to see companies bringing something different to the table.

It looks that that you have a lot on show. Will you be having more than one system on show. (Say changing between amps & speakers, turntables etc)?

SCIDB

 

The plan is to have one turntable/arm/cartridge with a choice of amp/speakers.

We will be playing the Strain Gauge through the Soundsmith amp and speakers and then switching to the Quicksilver amps with Kipsch speakers.

Peter of Soundsmith is very keen for the Strain Gauge to be demonstrated in the context of his designs, however I'm also really excited about the Quicksilver amps and the Klipsch speakers, so we'll play both. So lots of boxes and a big van!

I would also have liked to dem our own Cadenza moving coil (made for us by a well known Swiss cartridge maker) and a new phono stage that will be available soon, however I decided that we should showcase the Strain Gauge cartridge system this time.

As a paying visitor, I was always critical of poor exhibitors' sound at shows, so we're not going to be too ambitious first time out.

Update on the Strain Gauge - it's one of those components that's very honest - really good recordings sound fantastic and (particularly through the Klipsches) it's very revealing of poor recordings and mixing.

Back to cleaning records in preparation!

Hope to see you there!

Ralph

 

And the room looks like this!

 

Presumably if you run direct to a power amp then the versions without the additional preamp circuitry will sound better?

 

How on earth do you evaluate a cartridge at a show in a totally unfamiliar system?

 

All models have at least one line input. The designer strongly advocates running the SG phono pre direct into a power amp - it's certainly worth trying.

Someone commented that he wouldn't want the displays because he's always been told that they have an adverse on sound quality. I checked this with the designer this morning. He says that there is no difference on measurement instruments or audibly, between the versions with and without displays.

Ralph

 

By listening?

Because a cartridge is a source, the rest of the system can't add what's not there to begin with.

So you if you can hear high resolution, fast dynamics, clean tracking, good handling of the letter S, bass extension, air and ambience then it's some indication of quality.

Ralph

 

Can it be bypassed internally? What is the internal configuration regarding the switch and volume pot - is the latter passive?

 

There is a choice of fixed or variable output, both either balanced or unbalanced. The variable output has an additional 10 dB of gain.

Ralph

 

So effectively it is an extra gain stage with a switch for the additional inputs? Would it be possible to incorporate the attenuator in the first gain stage and by pass the 2nd stage altogether - i.e. like the direct fixed output but with volume control.

 

I'm sure it's possible, however the product has been under development for some time and there are some very good reasons for the way it has been designed. In my view, the current architecture is pretty effective sonically.

However, help me understand where you're coming from on this. What's your intention in exploring design changes to a product you haven't heard yet?

Ralph

 

I am just interested in the possibilities currently. I wish to connect my phono stage and dac through a balanced switch straight into my crossovers. My balanced dac has volume control built in and the benefit of cutting out the preamp (and I mean any preamp) is frankly staggering in sonic terms. So I wish to do the same with the phono stage. Given that the opportunity exists then I would wish to take it in my next purchase. The designer himself states on his website that even one gain stage is one too many. So cutting one of the two out in the unit would be optimal even in his own words. The switch would then be used to select between two independent volume controlled sources without a preamp. However good his preamp is, "no preamp" will be significantly better and I don't need to hear the unit to know that to be true. I have found this both with my dac and the brinkmann fein I have used previously, which is a phono stage with a beefy output stage and a volume pot just before that output stage. Sorry if it comes across as a bit awkward! I am looking for absolute optimal rather than effective.

 

Briz the MSB platinum DAC has a passive volume control and you can plug your ( balanced ) phono leads in as well, might that suit, it's a very good dac as well, Keith.

 

Hi - thanks. My dac has in built active volume control as part of the output stage so I am pretty much sorted in that respect. So I am really just looking at the phono aspect. I liked the concept of the strain gauge and the custom phono made for a nice all in one solution - but I want a phono with volume control but without the preamp active gain stage

 

Sorry to be slow but isn't that what the MSB is, it would mean selling your old DAC of course.