I've got about 50 hours on my Soundsmith MIMC Zephyr and concur with ninetynine 100%. The cartridge disappears. I liken it to listening to a master tape. Fremer refers to it as "freedom from mechanical artifacts". Peter Lederman's explains why in his Youtube videos. One of his primary design goals is to minimize stylus jitter. Needless to say you need to get azimuth, VTA and VTF dialed in. My test for resolution is to listen for the vocal inflections of background singers or double tracked vocals, and the Zephyr is way ahead of my prior cartridge, a Lyra Delos, which I liked well enough to replace when I snapped the cantilever off my first one. That being said, the second Delos was 4 years old at the time of the comparison, so that has to be taken into consideration. TT / tonearm is VPI TNT / ET 2.5.
Cartridge Suggestion Requested
Thanks in advance for all suggestions. I have (3) cartridges in rotation and all of them have issues, I would like to know if it is possible to find a cartridge that has the sound I am looking for.
Basically the tone and uncolored neutrality of the Ortofon 2M black yet in a more dynamic cleaner sounding presentation.
I really like the 2M black but it has some dirt and edge to the upper treble.
I also have the AT ART9 and it is nice but too thick for my tastes. Lastly the Dynavector DV20X2L, has a smooth dynamic sound but lacks the transparency and uncolored midrange that I prefer.
Basically the tone and uncolored neutrality of the Ortofon 2M black yet in a more dynamic cleaner sounding presentation.
I really like the 2M black but it has some dirt and edge to the upper treble.
I also have the AT ART9 and it is nice but too thick for my tastes. Lastly the Dynavector DV20X2L, has a smooth dynamic sound but lacks the transparency and uncolored midrange that I prefer.