I have spoken to Garth at Musical Surroundings about the Ebony LP vs. the Ebony LP-S. And I have carefully compared the specs and physical appearance. I chose to buy the LP. With my Zeta toenarm, the LP-S just will not work correctly.
The ONLY difference is the use of brass for the structural frame, vs. aluminum. And the only significance to that is the cartridge's mass. There is some hype that brass's greater mass may provide more damping. But the really IMPORTANT thing for any potential buyer is his tonearm's recommended cartridge mass to keep resonance within the correct frequency range. The arm's effective mass, the cartridge's compliance, and the added mass of each cartridge will determine his cartridge/arm system's resonance frequency. It must stay above the record warp range and below the audible range.
Both cartridges have exactly the same design and the same compliance. The LP has the correct mass for most tonearms designed for moving coil catridges. The LP-S is too heavy for most tonearms. With medium to high mass tonearms (designed for MC cartridges) the VERY heavy LP-S will drive resonance frequency down into record warp zone. NOT GOOD. With low mass tonearms (most designed for MM cartridges) the LP-S may bring resonance into a good range, but the cartridge's low compliance puts great demands on tonearm bearings not designed for that kind of cartridge.
Buyers of the Ebony LP-S MUST do the calculations for your tonearm before you buy. The mass of an Ebony LP is within the range, for its compliance, that correctly matches most tonearms.
The ONLY difference is the use of brass for the structural frame, vs. aluminum. And the only significance to that is the cartridge's mass. There is some hype that brass's greater mass may provide more damping. But the really IMPORTANT thing for any potential buyer is his tonearm's recommended cartridge mass to keep resonance within the correct frequency range. The arm's effective mass, the cartridge's compliance, and the added mass of each cartridge will determine his cartridge/arm system's resonance frequency. It must stay above the record warp range and below the audible range.
Both cartridges have exactly the same design and the same compliance. The LP has the correct mass for most tonearms designed for moving coil catridges. The LP-S is too heavy for most tonearms. With medium to high mass tonearms (designed for MC cartridges) the VERY heavy LP-S will drive resonance frequency down into record warp zone. NOT GOOD. With low mass tonearms (most designed for MM cartridges) the LP-S may bring resonance into a good range, but the cartridge's low compliance puts great demands on tonearm bearings not designed for that kind of cartridge.
Buyers of the Ebony LP-S MUST do the calculations for your tonearm before you buy. The mass of an Ebony LP is within the range, for its compliance, that correctly matches most tonearms.