Break in for Soundsmith'ed 103R

[louie3]

Folks,

I bought a 103 R which, according to the previous owner, was sent to Soundsmith for a ruby cantilever/fineline stylus modification and has, according to the previous owner, never been played either before or after it visited Soundsmith.

Can I assume the same 30-or-so hour break in?

Sounds "very interesting indeed" straight out of the box (and into a Cocobolo(?) body....does get a little "lively" in the loud passages, but boy do the big strings sound good.

Thanks

[Alex_UK]

Hi Louis,

I'm hoping that on your next visit you will be popping into the"Welcome" area of the forum, and letting us have a little bit of information about you and your system and music tastes - which you should have been politely asked to do by email when you joined the forum?

Afraid I can't answer your 103 question, but I'm sure plenty will - and all the more likely once we get to know you just a little bit better. ;)

All the best,

Alex

[blake]

Folks,

I bought a 103 R which, according to the previous owner, was sent to Soundsmith for a ruby cantilever/fineline stylus modification and has, according to the previous owner, never been played either before or after it visited Soundsmith.

Can I assume the same 30-or-so hour break in?

Sounds "very interesting indeed" straight out of the box (and into a Cocobolo(?) body....does get a little "lively" in the loud passages, but boy do the big strings sound good.

Thanks

I have one as well and I think that 20-30 hours is a good time frame.

What are you using for VTF?

[louie3]

Blake,

I have a Clearaudio Maestro Wood with a Soundsmith upgrade, and despite some folks' observations about lower tracking forces with these, the Maestro seemed to work best at the Clearaudio suggested 2.2 grams.

I am running the 103 at just slightly over 2.5 grams....

FWIW, there is a passage in the second movement of the Columbia recording of Stowkowski doing Sibelius' First that has always mistracked with any cartridge I was using. The Soundsmith 103 R sailed through that with almost no mistracking crackles....If you did not know where the spot was, you might not have noticed it....So, I suspect somewhere close to 2.5 grams is pretty close to right.

[louie3]

Blake,

Missed the obvious question above....what tonearm are you using with the Soundsmith 103R?

I am using an SME 309, which, in theory, is too light for the cartridge, but seems to sound good...although I wonder what you would hear if the combination was too light.....

[blake]

Louie: My 103R is in an ebony Uwe body and retipped with SS's $250 line contact. Mounted on a Jelco 750D which has an aftermarket ebony/carbon fibre headshell which is just marginally heavier than the stock Jelco headshell.

I also have an additional 4.5 gram stainless headshell weight which takes the effective mass of the 750D into the 25 gram area. I've used the combination both with and without the headshell weight and the headshell weight made for a very audible improvement.

I track at 2.6 grams, which is exactly where I tracked with the stock conical stylus. In my setup, that is definitely the best. I think there is some misinformation out there with respect to lower tracking forces following SS retips. Users going to substantially lower VTF's IMO are not doing themselves any great service.

[louie3]

When you remove the hs weight, what do you hear.....I am trying to understand what I might listen for if the 309 is just too light to play the 103 at its best.

My 103 weighs approximately 13 grams in the Cocobolo body...anything much over that won't balance with the stock weight on the SME.

There is a heavier weight available for the 309, but it might be smart to to just try to find a heavier arm.

Thanks for your input.

[blake]

With the headshell weight there is just more of an overall sense of solidity from top to bottom with the whole musical presentation. That's probably the best way of describing it. The end result is it's easier to hear into the performance; more "musical" and like live music and a little less ragged.

You get more of an impression of the cartridge being in control of the groove as opposed to the groove controlling the cartridge, particulary when passages are more complex and dynamic.

I believe my 103R weighs about 11-12 grams in the ebony body but I have the optional heavier counterweight for my 750.

[louie3]

Blake,

For what it is worth, I am getting all the stuff you are, smooth, musical, detailed....definitely am able to just relax and listen to the music, and this is improving as the cartridge breaks in ( I only have about 15 hours on it.)

But I seem to more bass response, enough so I am reasonably happy turning off the subs, than most other cartridges.

I HOPE this is because of the way I am loading the 103R, but I guess it could be a resonance that just happens to be not particularly unpleasant.

I am going to play records most of the day today...we shall see what happens when I get to the break in point.

Thanks for your time