Soundsmith Cartridges
American cartridge maker from New York, founded by Peter Ledermann. Soundsmith build moving iron cartridges and retip other manufacturers' cartridges, including ones the maker no longer supports.
About Soundsmith Cartridges
Quick Access
Moving iron, and the workshop that saves cartridges
Soundsmith began as a repair bench. When Bang & Olufsen stopped making the proprietary plug-in cartridges their turntables needed, owners were left with decks they could not use, and Peter Ledermann went to B&O for permission to build them himself.
Soundsmith call their design fixed coil: a moving iron arrangement in which the coils and magnets stay still and only a small piece of iron moves with the cantilever. Ledermann puts the reduction in moving mass at five-fold or better. Output is high enough for any phono stage, so you get moving coil behaviour without needing a moving coil input.
It also makes them far cheaper to rebuild than a moving coil, which is where the two halves of the business meet. Soundsmith retip and rebuild cartridges from other makers as well as their own, including discontinued models nobody else will touch. If you own something valuable that has worn out, this is often the answer.
Hand built in Peekskill, New York, in small numbers, with strain gauge cartridges alongside the fixed coil range.
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£2,499.17Ex. VATAlmost identical to The Voice- the top-of-the-line high-output cartridge by Soundsmith- the Sotto Voce also features a ruby cantilever and optimised Line Contact stylus formed of nude diamond which is designed to be almost the same shape as the original stylus used to cut records, which ensures maximum contact with your vinyl records. Soundsmith's innovative Fixed Coil design significantly reduces the overall mass of the cartridge, and minimises both the transfer of noise back to your record and 'stylus jitter', which results in exceptionally clear and detailed sound. Each Sotto Voce is handmade in New York State by Peter Ledermann, the President & Chief Engineer of Soundsmith.
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£3,332.50Ex. VAT
The Paua MKII is an upgrade on the already award-winning Paua, featuring an aluminium cantilever. Like Soundsmith's other Fixed Coil cartridges, the relatively low weight of this product allows it to perform with less 'stylus jitter' and return less noise to your vinyl record, resulting in cleaner sound. It also features a stylus made from pure diamond engineered in the 'Line Contact' shape. This shape is as close as possible to the stylus used to cut vinyl records, which ensures maximum contact with your record.
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£3,332.50Ex. VAT
Like the other cartridges in Soundsmith's Fixed Coil range, the Nautilus benefits from greatly reduced mass and minimal noise transferred back to your record, as well as almost eliminating 'stylus jitter' to deliver clear and detailed sound. Featuring a cantilever made from an aluminium alloy specially developed by Soundsmith, and a nude diamond, Line Contact stylus- which is a stylus shaped similarly to the stylus used for cutting vinyl records, ensuring maximum contact- the Nautilus is essentially a medium-output version of the Paua MKII, the high-end low-output cartridge. Each Nautilus is handmade in upstate New York by Peter Ledermann, President & Chief Engineer of Soundsmith.
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Soundsmith
Soundsmith Sussurro MKII Low-Output HiFi Turntable CartridgeSKU: Soundsmith Sussurro MKII
£4,165.83Ex. VATThe Sussurro MKII represents another leap in quality for Soundsmith's range of low-output cartridges, and features a cantilever cut from ruby which ensures constant contact. It also benefits from Soundsmith's Fixed-Coil design, delivering clear and detailed sound with its low 'stylus jitter' and minimal noise being transferred to your vinyl record. Like the other low-output models, the Sussurro features a stylus made from pure diamond engineered in the 'Line Contact' shape. This shape is as close as possible to the stylus used to cut vinyl records, which ensures maximum contact with your record Each Sussurro is handmade by Peter Ledermann, the President & Chief Engineer of Soundsmith.
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£4,165.83Ex. VATThe Mezzo is essentially a medium-output version of the Sussurro- a high-end low-output cartridge. It features a ruby cantilever and nude diamond stylus, engineered in the Contact Line shape. This special shape mimics that of the stylus used to cut grooves in vinyl and ensures maximum contact with your record. The Mezzo, like all the other cartridges in Soundsmith's Fixed Coil range, benefits from a drastic reduction in mass and noise returned to the record itself, and also avoids suffering from 'stylus jitter' to produce wonderfully clear and detailed sound. Each Mezzo is handmade in upstate New York by Peter Ledermann, President & Chief Engineer of Soundsmith.
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Soundsmith
Soundsmith Hyperion MKII Low-Output HiFi Turntable CartridgeSKU: Soundsmith Hyperion MKII
£6,665.83Ex. VATThe Hyperion MKII is the top-of-the-line low-output cartridge by Soundsmith. The hand-formed "cactus spine" cantilever ensures constant contact with the record, ensuring maximum clarity and detail. As with the rest of the low-output range, this cartridge also benefits from Soundsmith's Fixed Coil design, minimising noise being returned to your vinyl record and all but eliminating 'stylus jitter'. Like the other low-output models, the Hyperion features a stylus made from pure diamond engineered in the 'Line Contact' shape. This shape is as close as possible to the stylus used to cut vinyl records, which ensures maximum contact with your record. Every Hyperion MKII is handmade in the USA by Peter Ledermann, the President & Chief Engineer of Soundsmith.
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£6,665.83Ex. VATThe Helios is the medium-output version of the Hyperion- the top-of-the-line high-output cartridge by Soundsmith. Helios features a specially-designed, hand-formed "cactus spine" cantilever and nude diamond stylus, with the stylus available in Contact Line or Optimised Contour Contact Line shapes. The Contact Line shape is specifically designed to ensure maximum contact by matching the shape of the stylus used to etch grooves in vinyl records. As a part of Soundsmith's Fixed Coil range, Helios also benefits from drastically reduced mass and noise relayed back to your record, as well as the ability to minimise 'stylus jitter', allowing this cartridge to deliver exceptionally clean and detailed sound with minimal distortion. Every Helios cartridge is handmade in upstate New York by Peter Ledermann, President & Chief Engineer of Soundsmith.