Dave, I’ve created a hundred issues for myself with this install.
First, every time it comes back from Soundsmith, two top level factory upgrades, it has a different tonal flavour, starting in 2013 when I bought it with a very energetic top end, but these upgrades have created a smoother top end. Now in my harsh and reflective previous space (concrete and glass 27x22x13 converted factory loft apartment), the liveliness of the space ameliorated this smoother top end. In my new room which is marginally on the overdamped end of things, I’ve even had to remove my GIK 242 panels at 1st and 2nd reflection points, and behind the spkrs, to boost liveliness here.
So I’m possibly dealing with a stylus and energiser that are smoother and more rolled off than my original incarnation. Certainly the cantilever is not the same.
Dave, the bass is the crowning glory in my new setup, the Stacore is absolutely helping here (we tried the setup on static rack v Symposium Isis rack with Rollerballs v Stacore Advanced, abs the Stacore was the clear advantage).
So bass is absolutely first class, tuneful and extended, fast and full, a real synergy of rim drive high torque, linear air arm lack of bloat and noise, and Straingauge being naturally good here (compared to more “toppy”, forward carts I’ve lived with like the Lyra Skala). There is absolutely no bleed thru into fuzzy mids.
Indeed, mids too are exemplary here, I’m getting so much more stage depth, air, texture and low level detail retrieval, again a massive step up from London. I’m confident synergy of rim, air and Stacore are helping here too, because of the upstick over my rack from previously.
No, my issue is a seeming bottleneck in treble energy and definition, especially presence and extension of cymbals, percussion etc. Now, I’m getting day to day impvts by sweating the install, from altering spkrs toe in and seating position, amending Zus subs settings, adjusting VTA, VTF and speed (speed needs more finetuning, as does azimuth). Even Rollerblocks on the Stacore under my balanced transformer is helping. But it’s a work in progress, and lack of ultimate treble definition does lend the sound a certain harshness.
All this is complicated by a dozen things needing burn in and opening up, incl new stylus and energiser electronics, new psus to Straingauge and tt motor plus new pwr cords and audiophile fuses to these psus, new tubes in preamp, Stacore under tt, new RCA plugs to tonearm wire, and maybe very critically new nylon points to replace original metal points that the 5” arm wand sits on the metal slider that floats on air cushion in arm gantry - the change from metal to nylon was done to reduce “microchatter” of metal on metal, and has contributed to less noise, but at least one other owner of this air arm complained about diminution of treble definition, and he has ameliorated this successfully going to one metal and one nylon pivot point.
So, that’s my saga in a rather large nutshell, I realise I’m not going to get any useful feedback here in my tt and arm, but I’m eager to hear from other Straingauge owners who’ve had factory upgrades if what I perceive to be a less incisive sound as a result is accurate.
David, one last thing. I didn’t listen to vinyl properly for 21 months, no digital for 15 months, constant diet of CDs for last 6 months, vinyl for only the last 10 days. My brain may be accommodating analog very differently.