High End Turntables

Got the Soundsmith Zephyr mkIII last week and have been running it in. I’m glad my dealer talked me into this purchase, this is going to give me joy for a long time to come. It was a big chunk of change but it’s factory rebuild able and just brings so much out of my records. A phono pre upgrade should really jump a level. Very pleased.
I recently bought the previous version Zephyr MIMC Star, offered at a great discount, due to the release of the latest iteration. I had always read that Soundsmith made great cartridges, but never considered them, as I found them aesthetically displeasing. After coming across an ad at the close-out price, and reading about the unlimited 20% (of retail) re-tip cost, for Soundsmith cartridges, I took a gamble. I'm so glad I did! It is a magnificent sounding cartridge.

Congratulations on the Zephyr III.
 
I liked my Soundsmith The Voice so much, that I bought a Soundsmith Strain Gauge. I haven't used it yet.
 
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Got the Soundsmith Zephyr mkIII last week and have been running it in. I’m glad my dealer talked me into this purchase, this is going to give me joy for a long time to come. It was a big chunk of change but it’s factory rebuild able and just brings so much out of my records. A phono pre upgrade should really jump a level. Very pleased.

Once you go moving iron, you can never return to anything else! Bang and Olufson held the patents to the technology for most of the 60's and 70's; Soundsmith purchased it and Grado adopted it as well.

I think that if more audio enthusiasts took the time to understand the technology, they would be purchasing Grado and Soundsmith MI carts by the truckload.

This video is very long but informative. Lederman does a fantastic job of explaining why MI works so well.

Congrats on your purchase! That cartridge is on my shortlist to replace my aging Grado Statement Master 2. I won't buy anything but MI until something better arrives.
 
My turntables . VPI TNT 6 w/ Kuzma Stogi REF 313VTA and VPI HR-X . The HR-X recently has a tonearm wand upgrade to the VPI FatBoy Unipivot w/ the dual pivot modification .
 

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Not sure whether this Prime Scout qualifies as high end, and compared to most of the cool kit posted in this thread, it's pretty pedestrian. But, it has a 3D printed tonearm and a really nice Grado Statement Master 2 cart and if you could hear it in my little mixing/mastering studio which is carefully treated for stellar acoustics, you'd probably agree that it certainly thinks it's a high end deck. I love it. Makes me wonder what that gorgeous HW40 brings to the table and whether I should sell a couple of Les Pauls to finance one!
 

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resized 1.jpg DSCN2517-1.jpg Mine's an SME 20/2 with an SME IV.Vi arm. Currently running an Audio Technica AT33Sa cartridge. Have a Grado Reference Sonata with a Soundsmith ruby cantilever and stylus rebuild with around 50 hours on that I should probably sell since I never use it. Right now I have a Benz Micro L2 and Ruby 2 being looked at to see if I want to pay the cost to rebuild those.
 
View attachment 1686430 View attachment 1686432 Mine's an SME 20/2 with an SME IV.Vi arm. Currently running an Audio Technica AT33Sa cartridge. Have a Grado Reference Sonata with a Soundsmith ruby cantilever and stylus rebuild with around 50 hours on that I should probably sell since I never use it. Right now I have a Benz Micro L2 and Ruby 2 being looked at to see if I want to pay the cost to rebuild those.
Beauty!
 

Thanks. Before this table I had a Linn LP12 that I put around $2K into for a new arm. It had a Basic arm and I had an Akito installed by a reputable dealer in Ann Arbor, but found there wasn't really much of a difference. Was looking around at other tables and found this one used for a good price. I couldn't believe the difference it made.
 
Origin Live Sovereign mk3-2, OL Enterprise C arm with Ortofon Windfeld Ti, OL Illsutrious arm with Kiseki PurpleHeart.

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The more and more I read about the Origin Live Tables and tonearm history, and technology the more I like what I see and read. You have a very nice table that's not well known around these parts. Congrats!
 
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