Speaking of Soundsmith, the Voice cartridge is astonishing for the money. It is a moving iron that readily competes with many hi-end moving coils. It would be a downgrade in price, but not in performance. In performance, it might be an upgrade. If Frank Schroeder will personally put it on his on Reference SQ tonearm, that should tell you something.
Cartridge downgrade?
I have been using a Shelter 90x with my SSM for several years happily but it's getting on in age and I've been contemplating what to replace it with when it's time. My table has been upgraded to reference status(super platter, mini feet, 10.5i arm, rim drive). I've thought about many of the likely suspects that might go with this combo(Lyra Titan vs. Skala, Shelter Harmony vs. 9000, Air Tight PC-1, Dynavector XV-1s) I wonder though if I'm just assuming these higher level cartridges are better than mid range ones. In particular, I wonder if I should try out VPI's version of the Dynavector 20x and save $3-4 thousand. Just wondered if anyone has tried a similar so called "down grade" and been happy. Is it possible that these high priced cartridges are overrated or a I just being cheap?