SoundSmith cartridges how good?

I have the Aida II. I would characterize it as very quiet, neutral, with great channel separation, and excellent imaging.

I also own a Kiseki Blue NS, Van Den Hul MC Two Special, Hana SL, Zu Denon DL-103, and a couple of nice MM carts, the Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood and Nagaoka MP-500 and a few others.

The Aida II is second only to the Kiseki in terms of my personal preference, however, to date I've only listened to it on my Technics SL-1200 MK2.

The Kiseki has just a bit more "color". I'm not sure how better to describe it. That might be less desirable to some.

I have a feeling the Aida would give the Kiseki a run for its money on my main table. 

In the future it would be great if we could keep the negative comments to ourselves until we know for sure it is a pattern.

That's a lovely sentiment, but it makes no sense (if no one posts until there's a "pattern", how could a pattern develop?) and as demonstrated by the numerous posts in this thread, happy customers will come to the defense of a company they've had a good experience(s) with.

I bought my Aida II used and it did not come with a stylus guard. I wrote to ask if I could purchase one and they sent me one for free. 

I had a cartridge retipped by them and it was also a positive experience.