In no way am I affiliated with SS. While at the Rocky mountain audio fest last october I had a chance to meet with the soundsmith guys in there booth/room. I was very impressed with their setup and their williness to anwser questions regarding B&O TT's. I secretly hoped that they had a few B&O SMMC for sale, unfortunatly they did not. However one employee in particular was very cool. I asked him about the difference between NOS B&O carts and the ones they sold. I mentioned that I herd a SMMC4 and that I was very pleased with the sound. He chuckled and said that more than likly what I was hearing was the difference between a new cartridge and one that was 15yrs old or more, and nothing else. He said that they reproduce the original B&o's to the same specs and that the MMC 2,3,4 should sound exacly like the SMMC 2,3,4, if you were able to get a brand new one from B&O, which is no longer possible. He said that while he was flattered at the response SS has got from customers, they did notwant to misslead buyers by indulging the possibility that the SMMC is a more refined and perfected unit. He did mention that all the SMMC's are hand built and go through a strenous QC process to ensure that the buys does not get a piece of junk.
I was extreamly impressed by his honesty, he could have easily said the opisite and I would have been non the wiser. We talked a bit about the posibility of going the rega route. He said that I had a great TT and that unless it was suffering serious mechanical issues that I should continue to enjoy it. I sat for awhile and listened to some great tunes on some rather impressive equipment. Just wanted to throw this out here as I'm sure many have asked. I for one have asked this question before. He did not mention the SMMC1 or voice during any of this conversation.
