Compatibility between Avid Pulsare and Air Tight PC1s

thanks folkfreak for the heads up; will be looking at other alternatives, maybe even tubes like audiovalves sunilda.

Knowing the PC1 and reading Myles' review it seems the issue was the way in which the Pulsare exacerbated the Air Tight's tendency towards an over forward low/mid bass -- this cartridge has a pronounced bass hump that is quite euphonic but also is quite demanding of the arms it is mounted on, and may also overload the phono stage. I suspect what was happening here was a mismatch between the cartridge and arm, and a phono stage that added a tinge of richness to the low/mid bass range (note that the review implies that the Pulsare is neutral to thin in the mid/upper bass).  

So if your system tends to the lean and a tad bass shy then this may be a good combination. You can also play around with damping on your SME to tailor to deal with this issue