Soundsmith? Tells me something…
Anyone who deals with analog technology will have stumbled across the company Soundsmith from the U.S.A. or Peter Ledermann at some point. But what do the guys (if you can still describe them that way) from the States actually and who is this Mr. Ledermann?
Peter Ledermann is a researcher, tinkerer and nay-sayer when it comes to “keeping things the way they are”. Critically, he takes questions to improve pickups and modifies and develops, tests, listens, tests some more and listens some more. Until he has deciphered the “riddle” from the hidden and knows the facts. It is also a fact that he does not give up and investigates where no man has ever been before: in the depths of what is still perceptible and sometimes even deeper. To the limits of the measuring instruments. And he has been doing so for more than 50 years.
In 1991, from his initial hobby, he founded Soundsmith in Westchester County, New York. Originally and still currently, audio repairs are performed there for many major brands such as Bang & Olufsen. So thanks to Soundsmith, pickups for the great Danish turntables can still be offered in smaller quantities today. And some people are convinced: better than the original!
Besides the revival for B&O, Soundsmith also produces pickups with daring concepts and prices. E.g. the HYPERION MKII Moving Iron pickup for almost 10.000€ with a hand formed cactus needle as needle carrier. Very exciting. But you won’t find these pickups here in the store, we limit ourselves to the replicas for Bang & Olufsen:
- B&O MMC 1 – Soundsmith SMMC1, top of the line cartridge, featuring a Ruby Cantilever and Optimized Contour Nude Contact Line Diamond
- B&O MMC 2 – Soundsmith SMMC2, Sapphire Cantilever with Nude Contact Line Diamond
- B&O MMC 3 – Soundsmith SMMC3, Nude (Solid) Diamond Hyper-Elliptical Stylus for improved performance, Aluminum Cantilever
- B&O MMC 4 – Soundsmith SMMC4, Diamond Elliptical Stylus, Aluminum Cantilever
- B&O MMC 20 E – Soundsmith SSMC20E, Elliptical Stylus, Aluminum Cantilever
- B&O MMC 20 EN – Soundsmith SMMC20EN, bare, Nude (Solid) Hyper-Elliptical Stylus for improved performance, Aluminum Cantilever
