Benz LP Ebony, and S-Class Ebony

For reasons that escape me, the Ebony line of cartridges does not get the respect it deserves, and they get overlooked by audiophiles in serach of a world-class cartidge.

I mention this for the benefit of those who might be in a similar situation to Stringreen and are pondering a switch. If you do, you may be changing the presentation but not necessarily making an improvement.

Perhaps the LP has been around too long to catch the eye of audiophiles? Perhaps the slightly (and I emphasize slightly) slow, bloated sound of the lesser wood-bodied cartridges in the line causes people to overlook this fine cartridge?

With the LP, they got it right ... really right - not throwing out the wonderful things that all Benzes do in the nuance and delicacy department in the process.

I've not heard the "S" class version, but would feel confident in taking the advice of those who have done the upgrade. Their sensibilities are finely tuned to the virtues of the original LP, and I would trust them that Benz didn't screw up a good thing.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier

Stringreen, the S looks just like the LP to my eye. I made a minor VTA adjustment quickly by ear but will wait until after breakin for final calibration. I do not use damping with these cartridges. I had to pull one of the counterweights way back to balance the S so I will also reconfigure the TriPlanar with heavier ones to keep them closer to the bearing after breakin.

Thom, I naturally could not agree with you more. The LP has been seriously underestimated as a world class contender: good sounds good, bad sounds bad, yet it's all utterly engaging, involving, captivating.

Not sure how they do that, but the S already seems to do it a bit more.

It's the musical instrument of pickups IMNSHO.

I had my Benz LP retipped about 5 months ago, but now I think I should have asked for the new S version tip.

I agree about the Benz LP being understated. When I was on the hunt for a new cartridge, I was actively listening to the Koetsu's, the Onyx captivated me and sounded very good, the Benz LP in comparison comes close to the sound of the Onyx with all of the glorified imaging, soundstaging and frequency response anyone could wish for.

Enjoy your Benz LP, I am know I am.
Ciao,
Audioquest4life

Well, based on the positive comments on this thread as well as my own cartridge thread, I have taken advantage of a good price on an unused in the box Benz Micro LP. Just another step in my ongoing quest to become Stringreen(just kidding...really). Seriously though, I know it will take some some set up and break in time but I'm looking forward to giving it a try. I was wondering if the retipping/upgrade option will be available to me in the future or is that just for original owners? Not that it matters that much. I think I got a good deal on a great cartridge that I will really enjoy as is.

Thanks for the advice everyone and have a safe and happy 4th.

Thom_mackris agreed with me one some point...he can't be a bad guy thinks me, so I went to his website. After reading lots of really interesting and great tips, I came across how important and critical is an exact VTF for the cartridge. Also there is news about the ubiquitous Shure Bros. scale and that it is flawed. The scale shows slightly light weight for your cartridge, however, by dropping the 2 outside feet of the scale base over the edge of the turntable platter, a more accurate weight is registered. The most important tip on his site however is the fact that the VTF has to be dialed in correctly. Manufacturers give a range, however, there is one and only one perfect downward force for your cartridge. While experimenting with the Shure scale, and changing the downward force of my cartridge, I noticed HUGE differences in quality of sound. These changes absolutely swamped the differences of VTA, or
azimuth. Although those should be spot on, if you can find the ne plus ultra weight for your cartridge...not around 1.5 -2 grams, but absolutely spot on for your cartridge, you will never know the glories awaiting you. I think (thanks to Thom) I have it now...and boy is my cartridge singing. It is so much better than before it sounds like a different cartridge...and it was no slouch before. It is very valuable information like this that makes Audiogon and people like Thom so outstanding.