High End 2015 • Hot Product

Peter Ledermann of Soundsmith was doing his level best to outdo everyone else at High End in sheer number of introductions. If we understood him correctly (and one must be sharp-witted to do so), he was showing 13 new products, including nine new cartridges. Truth be said, these new products were alternate versions of existing products, so while the sheer numbers at first defy belief, the qualification makes it easier to believe that there is indeed only one Peter Ledermann.

The Helios ($7500) is a new medium-output version of the Hyperion, the Mezzo ($4799) a medium-output version of the Sussurro, and the Nautilus ($3799) a new medium-output version of the Paua (which was being utilized in a few rooms at the show). Two “unbreakable” moving-magnet designs, the Irox Blue ($899) and Ultimate ($1899), sported heavy-duty-looking cantilevers. Three new strain-gauge cartridge/preamp systems ranged in price from the $8600 SG-230 to the $9600 SF-210 up to the $12,900 SG-200.

Peter’s featured new product was his lowest-cost ($1499) moving-coil-compatible design, the Zephyr MIMC (moving iron for moving coil). All of this was, of course, on static display, and Peter declined to let us test the unbreakable nature of his Irox cartridges.