Another case here with SME3012R + LPS bringing a great sound. In my system has a very pleasing, accurate and on the same time forgiving sound on records with little wear or mediocre mastering. This combination outperforms by a big margin Kuzma 4-Point with a large group of mid-level cartridges (Zyx 4D, 4d/Ultimate, Dynavector XV1S, EMT JSD Black). it seems that this combination will stay with me for a long time.
I am sure I would like that combination very much! (I enjoyed a Benz Ruby 2 on a Graham 2.2 for 18 years.)
I understand "pleasing" and "forgiving."
Out of curiosity, what do you mean by "accurate"? How do you determine what is "accurate" with components as idiosyncratic as tonearms and cartridges, and combinations thereof?
I am sure I would like that combination very much! (I enjoyed a Benz Ruby 2 on a Graham 2.2 for 18 years.)
I understand "pleasing" and "forgiving."
Out of curiosity, what do you mean by "accurate"? How do you determine what is "accurate" with components as idiosyncratic as tonearms and cartridges, and combinations thereof?
Accurate to me is about keeping the nature of each music instrument or overall sound intact, I.e. finger snaps to sound like finger snaps instead of frying potatoes in the pan. You can only judge the final sound and not of course credit or blame any specific component in the chain. Knowing my system quite well and having heard various tonearms/cartridge combinations on it I can say that this sounds the best with the attributes I mentioned above.
Accurate to me is about keeping the nature of each music instrument or overall sound intact, I.e. finger snaps to sound like finger snaps instead of frying potatoes in the pan. You can only judge the final sound and not of course credit or blame any specific component in the chain. Knowing my system quite well and having heard various tonearms/cartridge combinations on it I can say that this sounds the best with the attributes I mentioned above.
I've used the LP-S on a Series V and a Series IV, one damped and the other without damping (I have the damping set so the paddle only just dips into the silicone). I liked it both ways, but I'm considering getting the add-on troughs for my Series IV arms, which both sport Benz cartridges (LP-S and Ruby 3 mono). I just started a thread asking for others' experiences of damping these arms.
I'd say the LP-S is a bit thinner in sound, and more detailed (and I'm as surprised to write that as you are to read it, given the reputation of Benz cartridges), whereas the Reference is natural, and balanced. They are quite close to each other, and the differences are small. Overall the Reference sounds right to me, but that may be because I have lived with it for many years.
I'm not saying it's bad: it's a great cartridge, but you did ask how it compared to the Reference. I got a scare a couple of years ago when the Reference got into John Wright for a rebuild just before he retired. Thinking it might not be possible to keep it going forever (this was before londondecca.com appeared), I bought several other MI carts (Grado Statement3, Sussurro MkII ES, MP-500) and the LP-S. I've not found anything that works quite as well for me, but I did end up running extra tonearms so these cartridges can help spin out the life of the Decca, so as to delay finding out if londondecca.com will be as good as John was.
