Benz Micro Glider S series, it's not all about chocolate...

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Big Dog RJ
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Benz Micro Glider S series, it's not all about chocolate...

Post by Big Dog RJ »

G'day once again fellow CJ specialists;
I thought I'd include this write up from one of my earlier posts on another forum, since it involves a serious upgrade in cartridges but also using CJ's pre-power combination (PV15 & Classic 60SE).

After quite a while, I just had to venture towards a MC cartridge, since nearly everyone I knew & place I visited, there was a MC cart on their TT's amongst their top end gear.
I am now quite well versed with the Ortofon MM's and used with great success, ending up with the 2M black, starting from a 2M Blue.

I also tried a few phono-preamps, from Cyrus, CJ (Tea2SE) & Audio Research. This was solely to see if any of these were well worth the spend compared to the Rega Aria that I'm currently using.
It was certainly a very interesting comparison and one that ended with me not giving up the Aria at all!

So I went on the other route to see if the TT could be of better choice. Perhaps a Rega RP6/8 or the RP10, which actually retails more than the Michell Gyrodec, which is the one I'm after. However, I thought it would be best if I also turned towards a cartridge upgrade, and that's when it hit the spot!

I was listening to the Gyrodec with the same Rega Aria but fitted with a Benz Micro Glider. Driven by Arc amps through Sonus Faber's, it sounded wonderful! My obvious choice was to try this cart first and see for myself what level of performance are we looking at here.

Wow! I didn't know the Swiss were so artistic not only in chocolate & watches but also top end cartridges, they are superb!
And so my fellow analog lovers, I managed to cough up the extra spend and fitted my RP3 with a Benz micro glider SM (medium gain) but has quite a high output 0.8mv.
The Aria has only two major gain settings apart from the settings for load & capacitence. The low gain is quite high somewhere around 65dB and the high gain setting is nearly 70dB.

My good mates at CJ did the settings for me and also hooked up the CJ Tea2 SE phonostage just for comparison, now that was another revelation...
Any how, I picked up the rig last week on Monday, and whenever I do get the chance, I'm listening up until 4am. Now the time is 3:20am and I can't seem to shut down the system, since now it really opens up with full transparency and remarkable musicality.

This particular sound is limitless, totally engaging and the pick up level in detail is outstanding! I have turned down the levels (volume & bass controls on the Martin Logan's) a few notches to achieve live realistic levels. Apart from stronger deeper bass plus excellent dynamics, the quietness is truly fantastic. This is the biggest factor I noticed straight away and thus allows more of the music to flow and open up freely. Absolutely marvelous from BM!

I'm in no rush to acquire the CJ phonostage because this level of refinement, price vs performance has gone up towards a factor of over 80% compared to the 2M Black. Also maybe because I'm using the Heimdall power cords from Nordost for the TT, which I wasn't before. This could certainly be a contributing factor to such a remarkable difference in quality of sound and most importantly the level of musicality, which shines through the CJ amplification. Therefore, all power cords from AC outlet to every component, including the Ethos are all Heimdall series 2.

Just loving it and wanted to thank those who recommended the BM cartridge, definitely another best purchase I've made with tremendous value, takes the Rega RP3 to another league!
Cheers to the Swiss masters of chocs, time pieces and cartridges, very nicely done!
RJ
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