Soundsmith SG/SG-230 Cartridge
A wild departure from the MM/MC norm, Soundsmith's SG joins a select group including TechDAS' TDC01 Ti, top Koetsus and others of that ilk, as well as the equally-unusual DS Audio designs.
Singular driving force behind the revival of the strain gauge generator system first seen in phono pick-ups from the '60-70s, Soundsmith's latest offering is nothing if not flexible
Hardly scientific, I know, but I am predisposed toward components that cause binge-listening. Not knowing what to expect of the Soundsmith Strain Gauge cartridge and the accompanying SG-230 preamp/energiser at a pound shy of £16,000, I will declare my surprise upon discovering that it was so engaging, I listened to 14 LPs in a row in their entirety. I repeat: fourteen.
Yes, it's that kind of a device, but getting to the stage where it wowed me into submission was tortuous, as you will see. I had only ever heard the two pre-Soundsmith strain gauge cartridges of which I am aware in the distant past, including a Sao Win design in a system in California some 35 years ago, and brief exposure to the UK-made Euphonics Miniconic from the late-1960s. Audio memory ain't that great, so I had no preconceptions about Soundsmith's realisation of this technique.
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"The Soundsmith Carmen's ultra-low-mass MI assembly plays with more agility, is more naturally detailed, and sounds less stressed than any MC I'm aware of. Its treble is not dull or rolled off—it's just the most authentic treble I've experienced from a phonographic transducer." 
