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Would Like To Hear From Strain Gauge Owners

I would like to hear from owners of Strain Gauge cartridges (particularly Soundsmith owners)as to how you like the strain gauge system compared to previous cartridges you have owned. Is there any drawbacks to the Soundsmith Strain Gauge system?

I am located in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. Is there any Soundsmith Strain Gauge owners in the Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana area?

I read the review of the Strain Gauge system on Audiogon by Vac man. It was a very good review and answered many questions for me. I would like to hear from others who also own strain gauge cartridges.

Thanks in advance for any info that you can give me.
slowhand

Showing 2 responses by teres

teres
120 posts
 
Peterayer, No, I don't think the debate is about the RIAA curve. It's an old, tired argument that Raul brings up at every opportunity. Raul has seems to have an obsession with flat frequency response. Anything that does not have ruler flat response is fatally flawed in his mind. While flat response is certainly a good thing, it is only one of many characteristics that make for good sound. Focusing exclusively one measure is misleading and is sure to result in poor sound. Peter made this point very well, "Amplitude flatness can easily be done at the sacrifice of other MORE IMPORTANT parameters". Raul consistently ignores this concept and just launches into the flat response argument again and again...

Back to the topic of this thread, I have heard the SG on a number of occasions and have been able to compare it to a variety of other high end carts. The SG is one of the finest cartridges I have heard.
teres
120 posts
 
Raul, You still don't get it. I suggest that you read this and other responses carefully before responding.
1) The RIAA curve is about flat frequency response. The record is recorded with the inverse of the RIAA curve and applying RIAA equalization produces flat frequency response.
Deviation from the RIAA curve produces frequency response deviations. You are a preamp designer?
2) The SG transducer (unlike traditional cartridges) inherently produces a frequency response curve that closely follows the RIAA curve so there is no need to do equalization in the preamp. I believe that this is one of the strengths of the SG. There is a significant sonic cost from any sort of equalization. That cost is eliminated with the SG. The down side is that the inherent equalization may not be as precise as well implemented RIAA equalization so the resulting frequency response may be less than perfect. I say "may" because I don't know the details about how closely the SG mimics RIAA.

As Flyingred aptly pointed out this thread is about how the SG sounds. I think it sounds great. Apologies for my part in the diversion.
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