Benz Micro LP Top cart. Sounds phenomenal, like new.

This former top-of-the-line cart was recently re-tipped by Peter Lederer at Soundsmith and as I am not the original owner I cannot even begin to bullshit you with how many hours are on this wonderful cart.  All I can say (and which I believe anyone who sells a used cart should do) is list the ancillary equipment used to evaluated the cart and list any defects or anomalies found.  And offer a money back guarantee. 

In this case it was run through a Triplanar/VPI/Coincident phono/Coincident Linestage/First Watt SIT-2 and then through a pair of nice Ars Aures floorstanders.  After dialing it in (I settled on 1.89g and pretty parallel VTA--maybe riding just "a little dirty" as my buddy Andy is fond of saying) I found this thing to sound superb.  In a word:  perfect.  Absolutely no sibilance or anything tipped up.  In fact, I found pronunciation of words to be *maybe* the most clear and precise I've ever heard in analog playback.  The sound is incredibly well balanced, harmonically rich, textured, and layered while at times revealing minute details that I haven't even noticed with my revered Universe.  The bottom end is ROBUST and leaves nothing to be desired.  Essentially, I guarantee this cart to sound perfect and I will offer a money back guarantee if you find otherwise. 

I like this Benz so much I'm willing to offer my Universe (original, not MkII) to anyone who would prefer to have that cart instead.  It plays well but has a slightly bent cantilever.  So...asking $2k.  I will probably send it, too, off to Soundsmith soon.

I have original box as you can see but I do not have the spec sheet that came with this.  Price hopefully reflects that.

I'll cover domestic insured ground and PP fees.  Local audition/pick-up always welcome in hot hot hot NYC.

All questions and offers welcome.


Mike