I love my Zephyr. Very neutral and natural to my ears, definitely not in the least ‘bright, as mentioned, tracks very well, (I can play a fairly warped LP and my SoundSmith Zephyr is practically unphased compared to others), and refined and detailed. Also, compared to my others, the Zephyr never seems to get ‘overloaded’ or ‘overwhelmed’ with the information in the grooves even at higher volume. Just incredibly solid and not the least bit ‘wobbly’ in its presentation. In addition, I find the Zephyr incredibly quiet, and easy to set-up. It doesn’t seem overly finicky about ‘perfect’ adjustments, and gives great sound with little effort other than the basics. I bought a Goldring 1042 not so long ago as a back-up. Has a very similar sound signature to the Zephyr, and am incredibly pleased with it (at a third of the cost of the Zephy). I was actually quite amazed after first listening to it, and it did cross my mind, ‘why not sell the Zephyr and use the Goldring instead’? I became a huge fan almost immediately, and actually left it on my arm for a week or so. Then, I put the Zephyr back on, and quickly realized just how much more quiet and sophisticated it was in comparison, and provided overall performance the 1042 cannot really equal. That said, a great back-up cart, and can not recommend it enough at its price-point. I’ll be able to live with it quite easily when the Zephyr needs retipped. Peronally, I don’t think you can go wrong with a SoundSmith, but as everything, it’s all subjective. |
@road To say Peter, Soundsmith, his ‘shop’, employees, etc. are eccentric would be an understatement. Looking at his shop, it’s hard to believe some of the best cartridges are built and repaired there, but indeed they are. But also understand, Peter, from what I understand is not a great businessman, in that he does not charge enough for his cartridges given their quality, let alone their retipping and repair charges, particularly their own products. But also understand that he is more an ‘engineering artist’ who truly cares about the quality of everything he does, whether it is his own products, or repairing someone else’s. He is also very knowledgeable about cartridges in general, and how to build some of the best carts for the money, bar none. Is Soundsmith a bit quirky to deal with? Probably, compared to a much larger manufacturer with divisions of various staff members that fit into a nice little box. That isn’t SoundSmith. So, if that is what you desire, deal with a larger company with slick tongues but lesser quality products as they have to pay for that overhead. If you had a bad experience, call and talk to Peter himself, and express your disappointment. But it may have been an employee juggling many different responsibilities at the time, under a lot of pressure to get all of them done, and truly didn’t have the time to give you ‘an hour’ to chat. Peter does not have ‘customer service’ representitive. If it was actually Peter you talked to, perhaps the same depending on what you were asking. |
To anyone interested, and it’s even tempting for me. Just saw this posted; an old SoundSmith VPI, or, predecessor to the Zephyr. Really good deal IMO. http://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649718051-soundsmith-vpi-cartridge/ |
@glupson Yep, I get it. My Goldring 1042 may be the easiest as it simply slides on. My Ortofon Mono I find a pain in the rear, to me. Snapping in that rear tab is a bit clumsy. I use the guard almost nightly, as I cover my SOTA with a cloth/vinyl soft cover, and cautious out the cover snagging the cart/stylus. So perhaps I’ve gotten used to it. My biggest ‘getting used to’ was sliding it on over the stylus guard area initially. Perhaps my fingers are smaller, as I find ‘unclipping’ the guard perhaps easier than you. Nice thing is, I slide it over my lift lever, so it’s alway there and does not get lost on the plinth somewhere, or easily knocked-off. |
@glupson It has nothing to do with the sound, but the only small gripe about my Otello (I think it is previous generation, maybe two years or so old now) is the stylus protector. It is trickier to place on than those few from other manufacturers I have tried. Admittedly, I have not tried too many, but even those few were simpler. It’s actually one of the simplest if you do it correctly, it just automatically snaps into place. Peter has a very short video on his web site showing how to do it. Here, I found the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikXNwh8Tfs8 |
@rickd1235 @bkeske The seller did send it to Soundsmith and it did not yet require re-tipping. My Zephyr has about 400 Hrs on it and sounds great to me. I figure I will send it in at 1000 Hrs. Really can’t beat a rebuild at 20% of original price. Does any other manufacturer do this? That is outstanding. And no, no other company does that. I follow a forum which one of the SoundSmith cart techs posts, and he has stated many times that there is no way they make money on re-tipping/re-building charges. That Peter is basically giving that service at cost, if not less. |
@rickd1235 I couldn’t resist and bought this cartridge as a backup for my Zephyr MK III for when I need to send it in for re-tipping. Thanks for the heads up bkeske. Good for you! Yes, a great back-up when your Zephyr needs re-tipped. Wish that would have been availiable when I bought the Goldring for the same purpose 👍🏼 Not sure if you asked him how many hours the actual stylus has (he stated approx. hours on the cart itself, and was unclear whether that was before or after he sent it to SoundSmith to be checked out) but even sending it in to be retipped would be a great deal for the overall investment. For about $575 (total) you will have a practically new 1st generation Zephyr. Not bad. |
