Bsme85 - quite right. I used line contact type styli with my previous Graham 1.5T - which is a traditional unipivot - and got very good performance.
I was just repeating the SoundSmith ad-speak.
They're suggesting the elliptical shape of the Zephyr's stylus has some benefit in dealing with the inevitable azimuth roll of an unstabilised unipivot. I suspect the elliptical profile presented to the groove would be more consistent than a line contact under conditions of slightly changing azimuth.
FWIW, I've found line contact styli to be quite critical of azimuth adjustment.
When looking at the two similarly priced Soundsmith MI cartridges - the Aida and the Zephyr (and yes, I realise there are design differences) - my thought is that a stabilised unipivot - whether that be a Phantom, Vector or Continuum etc - would probably get more benefit from the line contact shape since they are not prone to azimuth roll. But I guess Peter would be the one to ask on this.
I'm not suggesting stylus shape over-rides other design advantages that any particular cartridge might present on an unstabilised unipivot. IME the stylus shape chosen has a major influence on the recovered sound and I personally tend to favour retrieval properties of line contacts.
