My SMMC 20CL has finally arrived! It came in a nice wooden box with ample protection with the foam. The build quality is better than I imagined. The black cartridge body looks better in real life than pictures. Although I would still prefer it in silver, black body doesn't look as ugly as I feared.
Now how does it sound? Two thumbs up! 🤒 I can't do a direct comparison between the original MMC 20CL and Sound Smith's any more since my little one broke the cantilever of the original cartridge, but from how I remembered the sound especially in comparison with Rega table with Benz Micro MC cartridge, Sound Smith sounds much more clearer than the original. There is a lot of treble content with the new cartridge, perhaps a little more than what's considered neutral, but it's a brand new cartridge and I suppose the suspension mechanism will need breaking in and alter the sound before it settles. Bass extension is also very good. It sounds distinctly different from the original cartridge which was very warm sounding, and perhaps into muddy sounding territory a little bit. The Sound Smith cartridge is more crispier and brighter sounding and leaner body.
Sound Smith cartridge also shows good noise rejection. I was bothered by pops and clicks using old original cartridge, but I don't notice as many pops and clicks with the new cartridge.
Compared to Rega with Benz Micro MC cartridge, it's a close call. The initial impression with the reference recordings from Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Beethoven 9th symphony is that Beogram 8000 with Sound Smith 20CL cartridge sounds very close to Rega with Benz Micro. That means a lot, considering the pedigree of Rega and Benz Micro in audiophile worlds, not to mention the price difference. Add the convenience factor with automatic control and cool styling, now Beogram edges ahead for me.
