2. analog
  3. 133995-3635

Soundsmith Straingauge cartridge taken to the next level

After a long pause, my analog was reinstalled 6 weeks ago.
This pause gave me the chance to go to the next level on my Straingauge.
Atm, Straingauge is a great performer, but IMHO it’s let down by it’s cheap and nasty 24V DC wall warts.
Initially I upgraded these to Red Wine Audio Black Lightning battery psu which gave a great upstick in SQ, but at expense of ongoing unreliability.
So 9 months ago I commissioned Peter Downs of Alternative Audio in SW of U.K., www.alternativeaudio.co.uk
to make a bespoke psu to the cart.
And after many prototypes the finished version, with specialist transformer, oversized choke and best choice of caps etc, was delivered and installed.
Together with a sister psu to replace the stock one on my Trans Fi Salvation rim drive motor.
6 weeks of burn in, and I’m in Seventh Heaven re the SQ impvts these psus are bringing to the party.
Will report more at next post. But I can’t praise Peter enough in what he’s created, it’s truly taking my analog to the next level.
spiritofmusic
ronnierocksrecords
26 posts
 

@spiritofmusic 

I also have the good fortune of music with the strain gauge.

As you indicated in your first post, you also had a power supply made for your turntable. Did you happen to run them individually, or did you install both at the same time?

You also say the RedWine unit was unreliable. Can you elaborate on that?

@retipper 

 I am planning on building a battery supply for the strain gauge.

The plan is to use 2,  24 volt 4.5 amp wet sealed batteries, with 1 smart charger. Can I use just one charger, or will I need two ,so as to have two completely separate circuits?

Thankyou both for your input !

Ron

spiritofmusic OP
828 posts
 
Hi Ron.
I did acquire both psus at the same time.
Due to both of them needing 60-80 hrs burn in to fully open up, I did spend some occasions going back to stock psu for tt motor whilst sticking w the psu on the SG.
I can assure you it is dead simple to gauge the impvts wrought by both psus, and solely to the SG.
As I’ve now exceeded 80 hrs, the changes are profound and ongoing.
What I’m particularly getting as an impvt over stock wall warts and RWA batt psu, is amazing imaging, stage depth and airiness. A result of massively reduced noise. Truly adds to the whole listening experience, and is making the SG a wholly compelling transducer.
—
Re the RWA batt psu, it sounded very good (not as good as Peter’s psu, but still excellent) when it worked. But it often didn’t work, and once tripped the energiser necessitating return to the factory.
The issue seems to be that even though the SG is nominal 24V, I believe there is some variance +/- on this figure on R and L channels, and get this incorrect, and the energiser trips leading to potential irreversible failure.
You can quiz Vinnie at RWA about this. On two occasions I had to send both energiser and his batt pack to him. He had to configure a twin battery system and needed the energiser to measure both channels. Unfortunately even despite this switching the system on and off left tripping things a major risk. A shame, Vinnie’s efforts were much appreciated.
However I now have the dream psu to the SG, multiple power down/up during the burn in period not once risked tripping, and the SQ is significantly in advance of the RWA twin batt psu.
ronnierocksrecords
26 posts
 

@spiritofmusic 

Thankyou for your reply !

Just a clarification, does your new unit replace the Soundsmith energizer, or does the new power supply provide power to the Soundsmith energizer?

Do you use a preamp, or do you go direct to amp?

It is astounding to me that more performance is available from this system. In my case, I currently use the sg5 stylus, so another level will be achieved when I go to sg6. Hard to imagine , and then to realize another level of performance is available beyond that.....

For me this has been the single best audio upgrade I have ever done. It,s a keeper!

Ron


 



spiritofmusic OP
828 posts
 
Ron, the psu replaces the stock wall warts, to power the energiser.
Energiser into preamp.
I believe I have the top stylus.
SG absolutely has an amazing potential upside. The RWA batt psu showed some of that, but the Alternative Audio bespoke psu goes further.
I’m never moving past the SG.
ronnierocksrecords
26 posts
 

I was fortunate enough to get an SG220 which has a variable gain among other features. I go straight to amp. With various  preamps, I feel the best "truth" of the performance is without a preamp in my system. Thank you again for your insight !

  Ron
 

More to discover