As the owner of many vintage cartridges I must say that compliance is measurable with Hi-Fi News TEST LP. Based on my experience with more than 60 cartridges I can say that a high compliance is always a high compliance and a low compliance always a low compliance.
Stiff suspension is a myth, softened suspension is a common problem for some well know cartridges, just don’t buy them and you’re fine.
I think Lewm is not a hunter for vintage cartridges even if he has some at his vaults.
SoundSmith Grace stylus has advanced stylus profile, the original is elliptical.
But when you will try an original Grace with original MicroRidge you will not find anything better than this.
Grace offered MR styli in the 80’s with F14 and LEVEL II cartridges, your F9 is from the 70’s.
Grace upgraded the whole line of cartridges in the 80’s - they are the best from Grace.
For a person who think that every vintage cartridge must be rebuild because of that myth (about suspension) my advice to pass on it and stick to the new cartridges. Very simple.
People are buying top vintage cartridges not because they want them to be rebuild by someone with new parts. Buying many different samples of the same vintage cart is the best test, after purchasing many samples of the same model you can judge about the quality of this model. If you can’t do it yourself you’d better ask those who purchased many and tested many. A top vintage cartridge is valuable ONLY when it’s perfect. Some people sell junk, don’t buy from them. Audiophiles (not dealers) is the best source for used cartridges in best condition, they you will get exactly what you paid for (not a junk sample with dead suspension).
New cartridges can have many more problems than an old ones!
Suspension collapse quickly even on $5000 LOMC made today (if you think all new is better then how can you explain that?)
My advice: NEVER BUY RE-TIPPED CARTRIDGES! (exception is a factory retip/rebuild by the manufacturer).
Always search for the original sample even if it will cost more. Only an average cartridge can be upgraded with different cantilever/stylus, a perfect cartridge can only be downgraded with different parts coming from a third-party vendor.
P.S. SoundSmith cartridges is not the answer to all questions, they are not the best in the world, some of them in the new line are so ugly (sorry, previous design was aesthetically much better in my opinion).
Stiff suspension is a myth, softened suspension is a common problem for some well know cartridges, just don’t buy them and you’re fine.
I think Lewm is not a hunter for vintage cartridges even if he has some at his vaults.
SoundSmith Grace stylus has advanced stylus profile, the original is elliptical.
But when you will try an original Grace with original MicroRidge you will not find anything better than this.
Grace offered MR styli in the 80’s with F14 and LEVEL II cartridges, your F9 is from the 70’s.
Grace upgraded the whole line of cartridges in the 80’s - they are the best from Grace.
For a person who think that every vintage cartridge must be rebuild because of that myth (about suspension) my advice to pass on it and stick to the new cartridges. Very simple.
People are buying top vintage cartridges not because they want them to be rebuild by someone with new parts. Buying many different samples of the same vintage cart is the best test, after purchasing many samples of the same model you can judge about the quality of this model. If you can’t do it yourself you’d better ask those who purchased many and tested many. A top vintage cartridge is valuable ONLY when it’s perfect. Some people sell junk, don’t buy from them. Audiophiles (not dealers) is the best source for used cartridges in best condition, they you will get exactly what you paid for (not a junk sample with dead suspension).
New cartridges can have many more problems than an old ones!
Suspension collapse quickly even on $5000 LOMC made today (if you think all new is better then how can you explain that?)
My advice: NEVER BUY RE-TIPPED CARTRIDGES! (exception is a factory retip/rebuild by the manufacturer).
Always search for the original sample even if it will cost more. Only an average cartridge can be upgraded with different cantilever/stylus, a perfect cartridge can only be downgraded with different parts coming from a third-party vendor.
P.S. SoundSmith cartridges is not the answer to all questions, they are not the best in the world, some of them in the new line are so ugly (sorry, previous design was aesthetically much better in my opinion).