My interpretation of the Soundsmith's situation: Peter Ledermann is extraordinary in what he is able to do with carts and turntables. His work is absolutely first rate, and he is very fair in his business policies and practices. The problem is, he's one of only a small handful of people on the planet that can do what he does. He tries to keep his prices affordable to as many people as possible. This goes against the laws of supply and demand, resulting in a workload that doesn't lend itself to the best customer communications. Please see Peter's statement of a few months ago:
http://db.audioasylum.com/mhtml/m.html?forum=vinyl&n=923205&highlight=retipper&r=&search_url=%2Fcgi%2Fsearch.mpl%3Fauthor%3DPaul_A%26user_id%3D5641%26forum%3DALL%26sortRank%3DNone%26sort%3Ddate%26sortOrder%3DDESC
http://db.audioasylum.com/mhtml/m.html?forum=vinyl&n=923205&highlight=retipper&r=&search_url=%2Fcgi%2Fsearch.mpl%3Fauthor%3DPaul_A%26user_id%3D5641%26forum%3DALL%26sortRank%3DNone%26sort%3Ddate%26sortOrder%3DDESC