: Nude Elliptical, 0.120mm SQ Radius of curvature: 6 x 17 µm Cantilever: Aluminum Alloy Recommended Tracking force: 1.3-1.6 gm Effective tip mass: 0.35 mg Compliance: 22 µm/mN Frequency response: 20-20,000 Hz ± 2.5 dB Channel Separation (stereo only): 1000 Hz >26 dB, 50-15,000 >20 dB Channel difference: <1.6 dB (Stereo), <1.0 dB (Mono) Output voltage: 2.12 mV Cartridge weight: 9.2 Grams Loading: = 47 kO is this hyper eleptical? carmen? very interested to own this one |
mijostyn...did you know Joe Grado?.... I was a neighbor in Westfield, NJ. He was so kool tooling around in his Lambo. I've been at his home/factory many times. He was one of those who got me interested...I had every one of his top cartridges. I installed them in my Lab wooden tonearm on his turntable. Lots of fun in those days. |
@audioquest4life I believe he is the only American making handcrafted cartridges in the United States. You have to watch this video about another family business in NYC. All about cartridges and headphones ! |
audioquest4life I believe he is the only American making handcrafted cartridges in the United States.Nope. There's Steve at VAS. As with Peter, he's a nice guy. |
Peter Ledermann is in the hospital fighting COVID
Keep Peter Ledermann In Your Thoughts - Audionirvana.org. Thoughts and prayers to Peter for a recovery. One of the true gentlemen of our hoppy/pursuit and he makes a fine cartridge (I have three). |
My only experience with SoundSmith was a disappointment. I sent in a Denon DL-103 for an upgraded stylus. When I mounted it the stylus fell out. I did not touch it, or cause anything to make that happen. I wrote to SS explaining what happened, and they never responded. So, that was money down the drain, and a blacklisting for SS in my book. |
Corrected. Meant to read ES DEMS (Dynamic Energy Management System). I believe the ES designation is the name of the new series. https://www.sound-smith.com/cartridges/fixed-coil/hyperion |
Not to make anyone salivate any more, but, here is Some more information about the Hyperion. These are my notes from December, 2020. This report is when the Hyperion was somewhat breaking in. Not to dwell on that point, right out of the box and mounted and then playing, it was exceptional. Some other brand cartridges I setup, played, and I rejected immediately. So, if it’s going to sound good, it better right off the bat, or at least portray sonic traits that it will sound good. Enough about that. “Just installed my Hyperion MKII ES. Right out of the gate this is an awesome cartridge. It’s sound is not like any other Soundsmith MI cartridge at all. It seems to me that it has somewhat of the mid attributes of a Koetsu Onyx based on my recollection. The Koetsu Onyx is a cartridge that I lusted after for years. It would be interesting to test these against each other at some point In the future. I have an Air Tight Opus 1 coming sometime in the next few months. Will definitely do a shoot out between the Hyperion and Opus. The Hyperion is an even handed cartridge with just the right amount of bloom, depth, and noticeable decay in any of the music I play. Bass is so deep and the soundstage is also unbelievably wide. Voices are so palpable and realistic when called for. On the subject of voices, the reverberant background is nicely brought into focus, and backup singers are easily located in the soundstage. This Hyperion seems to dig deeper in the grooves. Some of the records I played, some 1 euro or 1 dollar flea market finds, some the audiophile price class, and cleaned on the Clearaudio Matrix, sound nearly pristine and quiet. The flea market records sound fantastic. I do have an upgraded Aesthetix Io phono stage in partial Eclipse form and two power supplies that’s part of the mix. Lots to enjoy with this cartridge for sure. If anyone ever considered this cartridge and did not because of angst about a particular type of sound, I can attest that the Hyperion does not sound like a Soundsmith, but more so like an organic and well balanced and exceptionally high performing cartridge that competes way above its class. I whole heartedly endorse this cartridge. It’s fun, it’s toe tapping, and it’s got an emotional attraction with music...you all know what I speak of who have had such connections. This cartridge performs that feat effortlessly.” |
Some months ago, there was a thread about hard times Soundsmith has been through because of the Coronavirus epidemics (most likely). Mr. Lederman chimed in himself, or maybe he even started a thread but I am not certain now. Seeing so many positive responses here, it seems that Soundsmith is, in fact, very respected player with enthusiastic and, probably just relatively, large following. Admirable for a small company heavily leaning on one person’s skills, ideas, and personality. |
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. |
Craig, I seems that the real improvement in the strain gauge cartridge is it's tracking performance. It more readily follows the groove with according to sources much less record wear. I would assume the term solid state means more accurate in this regard w/o tube or other colorations. As for what sounds better is a matter of taste, accurate is not always better. As for stylus replacement it is important to note that unless you order your strain gauge with extra styli you have to send your cartridge back to Soundsmith as each stylus has to be matched to the cartridge. So, it is no different than a moving coil or Iron cartridge in that regard. I would order mine with one extra cartridge. |
@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. |
@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? Again thanks for the heads up. Nice to have a backup of similar quality and the same re-tipping potential at a very reasonable cost. |
@hshifi For every negative experience there can and usually are dozens of good ones you never hear about. I bought a new turntable that had a predetermined preinstalled Soundsmith Paua mkII cart by the dealer and within the first few days I bent the tricky but ingenious stylus guard. So I cold called SS, and Mr. Ledermann answered and minutes after the phone call I had emails from Peter Green and Amy Reyes with my tracking number for a replacement. Can’t get any better than that, right ? |
Hello, I am happy to hear about Peter and his company’s problem was a one off. 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. This is people’s lively hood in a one year time frame that crippled the entire world. The average age of an Axpona attendee is 61 years old. Thank god some of the younger generations are helping the resurgence of turn tables. My one main issue is you did not call them back and talk to someone about your issue hopefully on another day. He might have just dropped and stepped on a very expensive cart. Everyone has bad days. Explaining to them what happened might have helped you out in the long run. It sounds like Peter runs a great company and does care about his work and his customers. Please get the facts first. Just a thought. |
Please see my review of the SG elsewhere in this forum. The SG is NOT bright once past about 25- 50 hours. Indeed, it is extremely "neutral" and extremely revealing, articulate, dynamic, and honest. ( The last attribute is a "killer" for poorly recorded LPs! ) The tonal characteristics of instruments is very accurate provided your system per se does not add "color". Also, don't forget that the stylus/cantilever are user replaceable without even the need to take the cart off the tonearm or realign! A simple 5 minute process for a fraction of the cost of other brands. The included "phono amp" eliminates the need for a traditional phono amp and saves thousands easily offsetting a large part of the cost of the SG. If you have a specific question, please contact me. |
@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. |
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. 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/ Report this |
@mijostyn, Great suggestions. Also, what you described about the SG not following the RIAA curve is perhaps why there are other comments reflecting what you stated about the SG having somewhat of a bright sound. Conversely, I believe that it may not be bright, but the sonic artifacts of its topology, appear to many to be output as somewhat of a solid state sound. This may in turn, equate to some form of brightness to some. I cannot make an emphatic statement concerning my hypothesis until I am able to hear the SG in my own system, and then ascertain personally, whether or not that the SG sounds solid state or is perceived as bright. However, the comments out in the field do seem to coalesce into a generalized sense of different type of sound for sure. For traditional tube aficionados, listening to the SG is a stark contrast in the way that they are used to hearing music. Could it be, that this artifact, the SG topology, which appears to sound solid state to a few listeners and owners, that is being translated into the bright comments? Not sure, but I do now know, sometimes different is good or bad, YMMV. |
