IMHO this product should be relabeled the "Speed Demon Cartridge System". After spending considerable time listening to the Strain Gage in two rooms at RMAF, it was quite apparent (to me and some others) that the Strain Gage may just establish a new benchmark for capturing the leading edge transients of music. In all actuality, this may be a flaw that I never knew existed with the other top flight "typical" cartridges. I asked some buddies (who have ears I trust) if they thought the cartridge did anything special for their ears . Both had no problem detecting the Strain Gage's "special" ability to convey transients. (Mind you, I never let them know in advance what I thought it did special!) From my experience, I now suspect that other typical cartridges have had a flaw all along. Perhaps their contained cantilever mass have always had issues starting and stopping. This will then affects the true transient response - as compared to the actual source music material contained within the hills and valleys of a record's grooves. If the Strain Gage cartridge can prove itself to be a reliable product, I think we are all in for a new level of realism...... at least in regard to a cartridge breaking the "speed" barrier!
