Sumiko or Soundsmith
- Thread starter Darren L
- Start date
I.D.C.
pfm Member
I use Sumoko Pearwood Celebration 11. Love listening to the detail of the instruments and all the music. This catridge is as good as you get at this level. I bought it new for just over a £1,000. To day it is just over £3,000. I could not pay that kind of money so here is hoping it has a good few years left.
Weeman1973
Big Country Member
I’ve had both Sumiko Olympia and Soundsmith Otello. The latter sounded far better to me.
The Sumiko seemed overly warm and fuzzy, not very detailed at all which surprised me.
The Sumiko seemed overly warm and fuzzy, not very detailed at all which surprised me.
Sue Pertwee-Tyr
Accuphase all the way down
I’m also interested in people’s experiences of Soundsmith. I’m wondering if this is a direction worth thinking about.
Do they use a regular MC phono stage, and are there any loading peculiarities, for example, compared to a low output MC? Would they work into a @Arkless Electronics GTI stage?
Do they use a regular MC phono stage, and are there any loading peculiarities, for example, compared to a low output MC? Would they work into a @Arkless Electronics GTI stage?
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
That took some thinking about actually! No they are not compatible with the Arkless GTI or any other current input MC stage. Fine with Arkless 640P though. They need a minimum load of 470R and preferably 1K or more. Loading plugs for Arkless 640P can sort this no problem. They have a very high inductance of 2.75mH and would give pretty much nothing but bass into a current input MC stage!
ummagumma
Member
I have a Soundsmith Boheme that sounds great, although it seems they discontinued this model?
using it on an Empire 698 turntable
also have a Soundsmith re-tipped Denon 103R with their top of the line OCL it sounds great as well
have not done any "shoot outs" or messed with any other high end carts though. I just listen to them
at some point I want to get a replacement cart for my old B&O turntable: Soundsmith still make them & bought the IP from Bang & Olufsen
using it on an Empire 698 turntable
also have a Soundsmith re-tipped Denon 103R with their top of the line OCL it sounds great as well
have not done any "shoot outs" or messed with any other high end carts though. I just listen to them
at some point I want to get a replacement cart for my old B&O turntable: Soundsmith still make them & bought the IP from Bang & Olufsen
yuckyamson
pfm Member
The soundsmith carts are awesome and very good VFM. I will trust what Jez is saying about running into a current mode phono stage....I know they have both high, medium, and low output versions of many carts, but with the "moving iron" being a different type of design than MC, I don't know if that effects the electrical relationships or not.
Darren L
Egalitarian
I was Andrew, but I'm going to try a Hana ML
Bairnstorm
pfm Member
I had a Blue Point Special high output and didn't rate it. There seemed to be a lack of top end, almost as if the high frequencies had been chopped off. One channel went after a year and it was replaced by a Denon DL304 - much much better. It was on a LP12, Valhalla, Cirkus and Akito arm.
yuckyamson
pfm Member
SOUNDSMITH.
The Soundsmith are based on the original B&O cartridge design. The cheaper models are similar to a Moving Magnet cartridges with outputs of around 2-3mV. The more expensive models are low output MM designs and I suspect these work best into solid state phono stages. Probably similar to the Top Wing Red Sparrow cartridge, if you want to use a valve/tube phono stage then you will need one specially designed and made as they require a different set of requirements to conventional valve/tube phono stages. I am not sure whether the low output Soundsmith will work with SUTs for best results. Their top model is a strain gauge design which requires its own Soundsmith dedicated phono stage.