restock,
Sorry for the late reply as I did not see the notification for this thread. I wish I could give an accurate assessment of the MSL Gold vs the Ultra Eminent, however, I did not have both carts at the same time. As you might have read, my Ultra Eminent has been at Soundsmith for the last 2 months so I my aural memory can't remember the different nuances between the 2 carts. All I can say is that the general sense of space between voices/instruments are the same which is what MSL is known for. As to the Proteus, I had all of 5 minutes of listening time before I noticed the bottom part of the cartridge falling off so I immediately unmounted it and returned it to the dealer. Now, MSL Gold vs the Koetsu Blue Lace. Two totally different animals, MSL Gold, huge soundstage, excellent layering, sharp and distinct instruments,dynamic attacks and good bass control. The Koetsu Blue Lace on the other hand has a totally different presentation, typical Koetsu ( in my opinion ), huge vocal presence, excellent midrange, a bit rounded everywhere else but lovely never the less.There's some real magic in there when it comes to vocals. YMMV. Hopefully, that was of some help.