Soundsmith Sussurro MKII Moving Iron Cartridge

Cyber Monday Special! Limited Quantities Available!
Only $2299.99! Regularly $4999.99! You Save $2700!

An Unparalleled Warranty! Retip is only $650 and is guaranteed for 2 Full Years!

The Sussurro ~ critical design decisions, realized. Lowest internal mass. Best damping. Esoteric stylus and cantilever. If you need to stay in constant contact, your cartridge has arrived.

Inspired by Frank Schröder, designed and individually hand made by Peter Ledermann, Soundsmith's Sussurro is a cartridge designed to specifically address the most intricate and critical issues of cartridge design. The new MKII Sussurro has a newly designed moving iron element to reduce moving mass by 70%; extremely low stored energy, the new MKII damping system and an innovative energy distribution path to effectively transfer mechanical energy away from the cantilever through the cartridge body into the tone arm. So what does all this mean??

Low jitter. Jitter? You probably thought that was a term reserved for digital systems. Not so. Stylus jitter is responsible for loss of detail, and making a cartridge sound, well, like a cartridge. The Sussurro stays in constant contact with the record groove. If you are not in constant contact, you can’t hear what has truly been recorded.

Some have asked... "Moving Iron Cartridges better?? I thought that moving COIL types are the best??"

Soundsmith cartridges overturn the myth that moving coil cartridges are the only path towards perfection. After all, what is the accepted "advantage" of moving coil cartridges? Low effective moving mass, right? Well, Soundsmith cartridges have got less. Much less. And if you understand EFFECTIVE moving mass, Less IS more. Why is that good? Because when you lower the moving system mass, it's easier to control. If it's easier to control, the stylus can stay in better contact with the groove walls. That's good, because if you can't stay in contact with the groove walls, you can't hear what's on the record.

"MCs were my reference for highest-quality LP playback- until I heard records played with a Soundsmith Sussurro MI, which (inspired by tonearm designer Frank Schroder) features ultralow effective moving mass, low voltage output, and a ruby-crystal cantilever with a nude line-contact diamond stylus. I heard the Sussurro only briefly, but I remember thinking, This could be the best cartridge that ever was!" - Herbert Reichert, Stereophile Magazine, June 2015

"The Sussurro is a unique cartridge... It traced the grooves quietly and tracked them very well. It wasn't the last word in resolution of detail, but it came very close. Most important, its tonal balance was pleasingly neutral, slightly accenting midrange lushness. If you listen to mostly acoustic music and your tastes run toward warmth and lushness, but with plenty of detail and robust top end, you can't go wrong with the Soundsmith Sussurro." - Michael Fremer, Stereophile Magazine March 2012, Vol. 35, No. 3, pgs.25-29

An Unparalleled Warranty:
The Sussurro Cartridge is covered for a full 2 years. Retip is less than 14% of the retail ($650). An absolutely unheard of warranty for cartridges. Made in the USA, the Soundsmith cartridges are the best long term values around!

Features:
• A new concept and design for a Low Compliance (10), Low output (.4mV) moving iron design for MC preamps - Recommended load: 470 Ohms minimum; 1K to 47K often used.
• Ultra low effective moving mass resulting in superlative transient and micro detail performance
• Single Crystal Ruby Cantilever
• Selected “Optimized Contour” nude Contact Line diamond stylus
• Azimuth/SRA adjustable at cartridge body
• Virtually hum-free operation due to six sided magnetic shielding
• 2 Year Warranty

Specifications:
Stylus: Contact Line Nude, 0.100mm SQ
Radius of curvature: Optimized Contour Contact Line
Cantilever: Ruby
Recommended Tracking Force: 1.8 to 2.2 grams
Tip Mass: 0.30 mg
Compliance: 10 um/mN (low compliance)
Frequency Response: 20-20,000 Hz +/- 1.0 dB
Channel Separation: 1000 Hz Greater Than 34 dB, 50-15,000 Hz Greater Than 25 dB
Channel difference: Less Than 0.5 dB
Output voltage: 0.4mV
DC Resistance (DCR): 10-11 Ohms each channel
Coil: 2.75 mH each channel
Suggested Preamp Gain: 58-64 dB
Soundsmith Recommends: MCP2 Variable Loading Preamp
Cartridge weight: 10.25 grams
Loading: >= 470 Ohms

Retip: $650