Benz Micro LP S

[Skylab]

I have an LP-S MR which I have had now I would guess maybe 7 years. It's on a VPI ScoutMaster, and I absolutely love it. In the last few years I admit I have been playing less vinyl on it, and partly that's because of my having gotten heavily into reel tape, but partly it's because I am not sure what I would replace it with! I'm sure I must be closing in on 1,000 hours by now.

I know Soundsmith will re-tip these...but would that sound anything like the original? Anyone heard a SS retipped LP-S MR?

 

[PeterA]

I think the LP-S MR was well-regarded originally and is still appreciated today. I think some uncertainty was introduced by the ownership or management changes a few years ago at Benz Micro.

I had a Benz Ruby 2 for many years. I think that for people who do not care for the neutrality and detail-orientation of something like a Lyra the LP S-MR is a relative bargain.

With A.J.'s passing I have no idea who will be importing My Sonic Lab cartridges in the future.

There may be a nice opportunity there for someone.

 

[DaveyF]

Davey,
In your list of cartridges, you listed the Air Tight Opus 7. Did you meant to say Air Tight PC-7? If so, I have one mounted to a SME 3012R and you are welcome to drive up to Long Beach and demo it. Cartridge swap out on the SME is very easy so you can bring a familiar cartridge to listen to as well.

Hi Jeffrey,
Thank you for the invite. I did indeed mean a Air Tight PC-7. I have actually heard one recently, and though it was in a very different set-up to mine, i was fairly impressed. How do you rate yours?

Ron, the new MSL Signature Platinum is supposed to be a 'world beater'. Problem is, I have never heard from anyone who has actually heard this beast.

 

[PeterA]

Hi Jeffrey,
Thank you for the invite. I did indeed mean a Air Tight PC-7. I have actually heard one recently, and though it was in a very different set-up to mine, i was fairly impressed. How do you rate yours?

Ron, the new MSL Signature Platinum is supposed to be a 'world beater'. Problem is, I have never heard from anyone who has actually heard this beast.

This would not surprise me. I own the former MSL flagship, the Signature Gold, and prefer it to my AirTight Supreme, designed by the same man. The AirTight Opus is supposed to be considerably better than the Supreme, so I imagine the MSL Signature Platinum is better than my Sig Gold. Too bad they are so expensive.

 

[marty]

I have owned an BM LPS MR for about a year and a half. I chose it when I bought a new VPI Prime and loved the combination with a Pass phono Stage in Spectral SV preamp and 300 RS amp into Vivid G3's and JL F-113's and a ton of MIT top of the line cable. I bought based on extensive listening to a Benz Ruby on Marty's Goldmund, ASI phono and a top end rig for the rest of the path, not to mention a superb room and tons of Marty OCD juice.

There is no doubt that the Ruby and LPS are sibs, with the LPS the much more refined and vital on all types of music--all types. I just remounted the LPS on an Aries D with a 12" 3D arm and the same complimentary gear.

If I was thrilled with the LPS previously with a 10.5" 3D arm, I am totally excited by it set in the Aries with a 12" 3D arm. The only thing that I can say that begins to do it justice is that my system goes away and I am "there" right in the middle of the choir or orchestra. I love it. I thought about replacing it with an Anna, but although I have not heard it in my system although I did hear it in a much better system than mine, it is just too polite for me and thus not as realistic as the LPS.

I have a LPS as well. Unfortunately, its been sitting in a drawer for a year. It does look lovely in its box however! Why am I not using it? First, I've been scared of replacing my Ruby 2 which sounds so damned good that I'm afraid I won't get to that sonic level again without some serious set-up time and break-in. Second, I've had some other projects that have moved the LPS installation to the back burner. I'll get there eventually, but that Ruby has no major flaws and is so incredibly musical I could certainly live with it forever.

 

[jazdoc]

I have used a Benz LPS as my primary stereo cartridge for 3+ years. For baseball fans I use the following analogy, the Benz is the Garrett Anderson of high end cartridges. Very good, all-star level, consistent performer, just quite not a hall of famer. Not quite the refinement of the Anna, not quite the beauty of the Goldfinger, etc.

 

[DaveyF]

I have used a Benz LPS as my primary stereo cartridge for 3+ years. For baseball fans I use the following analogy, the Benz is the Garrett Anderson of high end cartridges. Very good, all-star level, consistent performer, just quite not a hall of famer. Not quite the refinement of the Anna, not quite the beauty of the Goldfinger, etc.

Jazdoc, interesting analogy. How do you think the Benz would compare with the likes of a Lyra--given the same analogy?

 

[DaveyF]

I have a LPS as well. Unfortunately, its been sitting in a drawer for a year. It does look lovely in its box however! Why am I not using it? First, I've been scared of replacing my Ruby 2 which sounds so damned good that I'm afraid I won't get to that sonic level again without some serious set-up time and break-in. Second, I've had some other projects that have moved the LPS installation to the back burner. I'll get there eventually, but that Ruby has no major flaws and is so incredibly musical I could certainly live with it forever.

Marty, we have the same concerns....the darn Benz Ruby 2 is so good that it concerns me that others will not be up to the task. Doing an 'AB' between cartridges is pretty much impossible. Will the LPS MR be a step-up from the Ruby 2??? Should be, in theory...but like so many things in this hobby, theory can go out of the window rapidly, IME.

 

[jazdoc]

Jazdoc, interesting analogy. How do you think the Benz would compare with the likes of a Lyra--given the same analogy?

Haven't heard the Atlas in a familiar system to draw a conclusion.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I have used a Benz LPS as my primary stereo cartridge for 3+ years. For baseball fans I use the following analogy, the Benz is the Garrett Anderson of high end cartridges. Very good, all-star level, consistent performer, just quite not a hall of famer. Not quite the refinement of the Anna, not quite the beauty of the Goldfinger, etc.

Garrett Anderson was HOF when he played Seattle.

I love the LPS in your system.....

 

[dctom]

I owned a couple of the earlier Benz LP ebony carts - I did have a brief audition of the LPs and it seemed similar to my LP at the time. I found the LP rather warm, rolled off treble, so I bought an airtight PC-3 which combined some of the Benz qualities with the better qualities of my vdh colibri (it can sound bright and emphasise sibilance on some music but reproduces 'presence' very well). Since then have also got a Shelter Harmony, which is a very underrated cartridge, and more recently an Atlas.

 

[jackelsson]

Russ, I suspect that there are a number of excellent pieces of gear that tend to get a 'bad rap' or are less appreciated simply due to their age. The Benz LPS MR ( as is the Ruby) is, IMO, one of those pieces. Compared to some of the more recent offerings...such as the Anna and a few others, I believe the older Benz designs can still hold their own. (assuming you are searching for great sound and not just the latest reviewer's darling).

I just stumbled upon this thread while looking for comments on the LP-S. It had seemed to me that the positive noise about this cartridge that had been around on the net a couple of years before had somehow dried out and I was wondering why this was the case. Good to see that there are still a few users around.

I did own an LP-S for a year or so a few years ago running beautifully on an Origin Live tonearm. Although at that time this had been the best and most musical cartridge that I had owned so far, for some reason I still decided back then to sell it and try something new. But I'm still hooked on the sound somehow and so I'm very close to pulling the trigger on a new one. If I still remember what it does correctly, I think it will compliment my other cartridges quite nicely.

 

[bonzo75]

I preferred the Zyx 4d to LPS MR in another audiophile’s system and a friend has just bought a new Zyx Ultimate Dynamic which he is finding much better than the Benz LPS he owns (modded by Holger Stein) right out of the box. I will let him report as his Zyx warms up.

 

[jackelsson]

Interesting comment, thanks. Why exactly did you prefer the ZYX, i.e. what did it do for you to prefer it over the LP-S? Also, would you care to tell which tonearms have been used for the comparison? That's always quite interesting to know because the arm used has such an essential influence on the total presentation.

But anyway, I'm absolutely sure that ZYX cartridges do sound absolutely fabulous. Unfortunately for reasons that are more on the sales and distribution side of things and which definitely do not originate in questions abut the cartridges' general technical quality or sound I do not consider ZYX as an option for myself.

And apart from that I'm also looking for a special kind of presentation from a new cartridge which I'm quite confident I will find in the LP-S. I don't know whether an LP-S would be my cartridge of choice if I only had one cartridge, it simply has been too long since I last heard one so I just don't have a proper bearing in regard to absolute sound quality. But from remembering what kind of presentation the LP-S gave years ago I'm confident that it will quite nicely fill a kind of "gap" and find its place here in my rig.

 

[bonzo75]

The key was differences in the piano notes and violin notes, each note being more nuanced with the Zyx. I did not see much difference in largeness of soundstage, I just felt the way Zyx laid out things was more proper. On bass and slam, maybe the Zyx was better, but it wasn’t that the Benz was giving anything away. I was also more involved with the Zyx. I have been quite happy with all the Zyxs in private demos. It is not as resolving as Ortofon a95 or Lyra Atlas, and the Colibri, slightly fuller than them without sounding fat, or colored (like Koetsu). I guess latter part of that sentence describes Benz as well. And I like the authority and mid bass/bass of Zyx. It also seems very smooth. I would say that as an alternative to the Zyx I would look at a different sound like Colibri or a95 at those prices.

You have the colibri and the anna, for me Zyx would be a different sound. The other carts I want to hear are Proteus and Kai. Art 1000 is good but that and Lyra are too similar to your existing carts. Have you looked at SPU anniversaries?

 

[DaveyF]

The key was differences in the piano notes and violin notes, each note being more nuanced with the Zyx. I did not see much difference in largeness of soundstage, I just felt the way Zyx laid out things was more proper. On bass and slam, maybe the Zyx was better, but it wasn’t that the Benz was giving anything away. I was also more involved with the Zyx. I have been quite happy with all the Zyxs in private demos. It is not as resolving as Ortofon a95 or Lyra Atlas, and the Colibri, slightly fuller than them without sounding fat, or colored (like Koetsu). I guess latter part of that sentence describes Benz as well. And I like the authority and mid bass/bass of Zyx. It also seems very smooth. I would say that as an alternative to the Zyx I would look at a different sound like Colibri or a95 at those prices.

You have the colibri and the anna, for me Zyx would be a different sound. The other carts I want to hear are Proteus and Kai. Art 1000 is good but that and Lyra are too similar to your existing carts. Have you looked at SPU anniversaries?

Interesting comparison between the ZYX and the LPS MR. However, since you heard the older version of the ZYX, and the new version is apparently considerably improved by the addition of the new Carbon Fibre cantilever...i would guess that the differences would be even more profound now. Another point of interest, is that both cartridges ( the ZYX Airy 4D and the Benz) utilize a similar stylus shape...a micro ridge. BTW, the ZYX Ultimate Dynamic is at a much higher price point than the Benz...or for that matter the new Airy 4D Ultimate.

A more important point for jackelsson is that the ZYX has a lower output than the Benz...which may or may not be a problem for his phono stage. In my case, using a tube phono, the output could be problematic... luckily the ZYX distributor has agreed to let me try the lower output ZYX with a one time trade back towards the higher output version. ( which may sound completely different than the lower output version...and most likely does??? )---which is why i have not pulled the trigger yet on this cartridge...
Cartridges are just such a PITA.

 

[jackelsson]

Have you looked at SPU anniversaries?

Well, not the SPU Anniversary versions, but smaller models. I myself had a GM/E II for a while but sold it eventually. I'm afraid I'm not an SPU type of guy...

Which was the tonearm you compared the Benz and the ZYX in?

A more important point for jackelsson is that the ZYX has a lower output than the Benz...which may or may not be a problem for his phono stage. In my case, using a tube phono, the output could be problematic... luckily the ZYX distributor has agreed to let me try the lower output ZYX with a one time trade back towards the higher output version. (which may sound completely different than the lower output version...and most likely does??? )---which is why i have not pulled the trigger yet on this cartridge...

This falls more under the "not a problem" category for me. I run two Pass XP-25 and they can handle low output carts quite decently. Actually my lowest output cartridge, an Ortofon MC 7500, has only 0,13 mV output but plays through the Pass like a charm. And in general I actually prefer lower output models. I had my Colibri being built to a lower output spec (0,26 mV) and if I will ever decide to spend the serious money for an Atlas it would quite likely be the SL version.

But as I already wrote above: ZYX is not an option for me anyway.

 

[bonzo75]

Moerch DP8.

Friend has the AMG

 

[thekong]

I run two Pass XP-25

Hi Jackelsson, how are you connecting the two Pass XP-25s? The normal way of one XP-25 for each cartridge, or the Dual XP-25 mode, i.e. using only one channel on each XP-25?

We have found considerable improvement using two X-ono in the Dual Mode, so am interested to know whether a Dual XP-25 set up would yield similar improvement. Thanks!

 

[jackelsson]

Hi thekong, to be honest, I've never tried anything else with the XP-25 than the normal way of connecting them. The sound quality felt always quite ok as it is. The pair is really just there for convenience because I'm running four tonearms on my deck.