Benz Micro Glider S series, it's not all about chocolate...

Big Dog RJ

Well-Known Member
Feb 2, 2012
1,242
463
1,155
Melbourne
G'day maties,
After quite a while, I just had to venture towards a MC cartridge, since nearly everyone I knew & place I visited, there was a MC cart on their TT's amongst their top end gear.

I am now quite well versed with the MM's and used many Ortofons with great success, ending up with the 2M black.

I also tried a few phonostages that was on home demo, from Cyrus, CJ & Audio Research. This was solely to see if any of these were well worth the spend compared to the Rega Aria that I'm currently using.
It was certainly a very interesting comparison and one that ended with me not giving up the Aria at all!

So I went on the other route to see if the TT could be of better choice. Perhaps a RP6 or 8, the RP10 actually retails more than the Michell Gyrodec, which is the one I'm after. However, I thought it would be best if I also turned towards a cart upgrade, and that's when it hit the spot!

I was listening to the Gyrodec with the same Rega Aria but fitted with a Benz Micro, glider S series. Driven by Arc amps through Sonus Faber's, it sounded wonderful. My obvious choice was to try this cart first and see for myself what level of performance are we looking at here.

Wow! I didn't know the Swiss were so artistic not only in chocolate & watches but also top end cartridges, they are superb!
And so my fellow analog lovers, I managed to cough up the extra spend and fitted my RP3 with a Benz micro glider SM (medium gain) but has quite a high output 0.8mv.
The Aria has only two major gain settings apart from the settings for load & capacitence. The low gain is quite high somewhere around 65dB and the high gain setting is nearly 70dB.

My good mates at CJ did the settings for me and also hooked up the CJ Tea2 SE phonostage just for comparison, wow that was another revelation!
Any how, I picked up the right just this arvo and have been listening since 4pm. Now the time is 3:04am and I can't seem to shut down the system since my work week starts today and ends on Sat...

This particular sound is limitless, totally engaging and the pick up level in detail is outstanding! I now have to turn down the volume just a few notches to achieve live realistic levels, and apart from stronger deeper bass plus excellent dynamics, the quietness is amazing. This is the biggest factor I noticed straight away and thus allows more of the music to flow and open up freely. Absolutely marvelous from BM!

I'm in no rush to acquire the CJ phonostage because this level of refinement, price vs performance has gone up towards a factor of over 80% compared to the 2M Black. Also maybe because I'm using the Heimdall power cords from Nordstrom for the TT, which I wasn't before. This could certainly be a contributing factor to such a remarkable difference in quality of sound and most importantly the level of musicality, which shines through the CJ amplification.

Just loving it and wanted to thank those who recommended the BM cartridge, definitely another best purchase I've made with tremendous value, takes the RP3 to another platform!
Cheers to the Swiss masters of chocs, time pieces and cartridges! Very nicely done,
RJ
 

Big Dog RJ

Well-Known Member
Feb 2, 2012
1,242
463
1,155
Melbourne
Just to let you all know and if there is anyone out there: I am now parting with my trusted Ortofon 2M Blue and the 2M Black stylus and cartridge.
The 2M Blue is a full set- stylus plus cartridge. The 2M Black is only the stylus, and have original packing.

If anyone is interested, please PM and I'll try to arrange something for a very reasonable offer.
Both are in mint condition and have been cleaned with the ultra-sonic stylus cleaner from HiFlux German made.

Cheers, RJ
 

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing