Strain Gauge
Statement for Sound-Smith
Lawrence Cross
I have been an audiophile for most of my life, having first heard a pair of AR 3A speakers in my dormitory in the mid-sixties – a revelation at the time. Over the years, as funds allowed, I have owned a variety of electronics and speakers including Adcom, Bryston, Audio Research, Vandersteen 2 Signatures, Quatros, and Carbon 5A speakers. I moved from the Sumiko Blue Point Special to mid-range wood body cartridges, and finally to the Benz Micro LP moving coil, followed by the Lyra Atlas. All of these products were excellent, and my “final” system of ARC reference electronics combined with the 5A Carbons and the Lyra Atlas was transcendental.
Then, one day, I joined a friend on a trip to the The Sound-Smith in Peekskill, NY – just about 25 minutes from my home – on a repair mission for an old piece of equipment. Peter Ledermann joined us in the very large listening room and casually put on a recording of Pictures at an Exhibition played through his Strain Gauge Cartridge mounted on a VPI HR-X turntable, amplified by his own custom power amps. My jaw fell to the floor with a thud. I looked around for the large speakers that I was certain must be producing this sensational sound but could only see two pairs of smallish monitors – it could not possibly be coming from them, I was sure of that. Meanwhile the speed and slam of the Strain Gauge, as well as its phenomenal clarity, were continuing to startle me – I simply could not believe my ears. I asked Peter if indeed the sound was coming from the monitors and he confirmed that very surprising fact.
When you have spent the kind of money I have laid out over the years on great sound you don’t expect to be startled, shocked, knocked over, shellacked, by such a modest looking system. I wondered why I had not come here five years ago, and the seed was planted to downsize my system and replace it with a Strain Gauge Sound-Smith system for about a third of the cost of what I had spent previously. On subsequent listening visits I heard a lacquer of Blood, Sweat, and Tears given to Peter by a friend – absolutely the best sound I have ever heard with the possible exception of a 15 ips master tape I heard in Harry Weisfeld’s listening room at VPI. I resolved to sell my system and work with Peter to install a Sound-Smith system with the Strain Gauge cartridge.
I won’t say that my new system is markedly better in every way than the ARC electronics with the Carbon 5As, but it IS markedly better in terms of slam, clarity of reproduction, quickness, and startle factor. The Monarch monitors, supplemented with two REL T-5 subwoofers, are sensational – very hard to believe that much sound can come from those sources. This is a system I bought with my ears, not with my eyes looking at written reviews. And at one third the cost, what’s not to love?
