The new "Glider on steroids"?

MC cartridges are considered, by most of the analogue-oriented audiophiles, to be the entrance door to the true analogue high-end. It's not that great (and costly) moving magnets or moving iron cartridges don't exist (Grado, Decca/London and Clearaudio are the first ones that come to my mind) but the heights of reproduction are scaled by MC cartridges more easily. Some reasons of this can be traced in the facts that the working principles of MC cartridges allow for a greater linearity, and that MC cartridges have a stylus/cantilever assembly which is directly connected to the generator: it's not by chance that the best Grados don't have a user replaceable stylus and that some wild experimenters report of a much better sound from MM cartridges if home-made and non-reversible couplings, like Super-Glue, are used between the cantilever and the cartridge body - it goes without saying that neither the author nor Videohifi.com are to be held responsible if you decide to follow those wild experimenters and destroy your cartridge, your finger or both. Furthermore, the way in which MC cartridges are (forcedly) built allow for lower, better channel tolerances and separation; again, their resonance frequency is higher and they are far less sensitive to the capacitance of the phono input and to that of the phono interconnects. Their main disadvantage is their low output signal; the most "precious" ones have a lower than 0.5 mV output, while MM cartridges output is normally higher than 2.0 mV. This peculiarity forces the usage of high gain phono sections, or of dedicated step up units, such as linear signal preamplifiers or transformers. This obviously causes other problems: noise and EMI/RFI. Placement of components, cable routing, proximity to radio stations, all of these facts become critical for the final result.

Another thing to keep in mind when an MC cartridge is used is that its sound can vary, very significantly in some cases, according to the phono stage input impedance: the ideal load resistance for a cartridge can vary from just a few ohms to 47 kohms - MM cartridges, conversely, are standardised for a 47 kohm load, excluding those peculiar Decca cartridges which are one of our Editor's pet loves.

The cartridge here under scrutiny is a relative novelty; Thomas Scheu, who begun his adventure in our field building DIY turntable parts, going on with complete turntables and tonearms, has evolved his business in a web shop dedicated to all things analogue. For a while he's been selling a Benz derived cartridge, named Scheu/Benz MC, in different configurations, with elliptical or Fritz Geyger S stylus, and with your choice of 0.3 or 1.6 mV output (by the way, I didn't mention high output MC cartridges above; I think it's enough to know that they are a variant of moving coil cartridges which, by using an higher number of wire turns in their coils, allow for deliver a higher output, an advantage which is offset by the fact that the higher weight of the suspended mass, in general, causes less immediacy and lower dynamics if compared to a lower output version of the same cartridge). The cartridge was known as the "Glider on steroids", as it was based on the known Benz Glider, which was modified with some parts of the Benz Reference. Not the least of its advantages over the Benz model was the fact that, thanks to Thomas Scheu's direct sales model, the cartridge's price was, in some markets, lower than that of the lesser Benz model on which it was based. Recently, and coinciding with the presentation of the Series 2 Benz cartridges, the range was revamped; the high output version is now sold only with the Geyger S stylus, 1.2 mV output and copper coils for 649 Euro + S&H; the low output one (the one I am telling you about) sports the same stylus shape, silver coils and a 0.3 mV output, and is sold for 779 Euro + S&H. A version of the Ruby is also available, an Open Air one (so the variant without the Bruyere wood body), for 1200 Euro + S&H. Expected stylus lifetime is about 1000 hours (as for all Benz models and retippings); retipping cost is 300 Euro for the model reviewed here.

Presentation and set up

The cartridges arrives in the usual brown box of non top-of-the-range Benz cartridges, which includes a small (and somewhat imprecise) round shaped bubble level, a small screwdriver and mounting screws in different lengths - no nuts, as the cartridge sports tapped holes. There is an individual calibration sheet also, with a nicely flat looking frequency response trace. The "manufacturer declared" specs are reported inside the top of the box; here, the model's name is indicated as "Benz Micro Reference Silver". It's probable that the cartridge is a naked, wooden body-less Reference Silver, also in view of its price.

This nakedness doesn't make the perspective to mount it on a tonearm an inviting one: there is no stylus guard, as there is no place where a stylus guard could be mounted; everything is exposed, even the wee wires (which seem really to be silver) connecting the generator to the output. So easy, calm and firm hands. At least, what's left of a cartridge body seems to be able to resist close encounters with a hammer.

However, the nakedness helps a lot during the alignment phase: the fact that the cantilever is so exposed makes it really easy to put the cartridge just where your favourite protractor dictates. .

Optimisation and sound

By optimisation I mean all of those operations which an analogue lover usually performs after the basic set up procedure (i.e, after assuring the cartridge to the tonearm, aligning it and setting the weight in the middle of the manufacturer recommended range): fine tuning the tracking weight, setting up antiskating, VTA, azimuth, phono preamp gain and resistive load. I found out that the best sound was obtained, on the two arms I tried, with a smidge less than two grams for tracking weight, just enough antiskating (none of the two arms has a precise antiskating scale; one of the two, the VPI - about which I will probably have something more to say in some other writing of mine - has even a peculiar and controversial antiskating arrangement), slightly tail dragging VTA (the arm lower at the balance weight end), 400-600 ohm load. In comparison with the older Scheu Benz Geyger Low, a cartridge I used up to the end of its stylus life, the VTA seemed to be less critical and the output seems to be lower, but let's not anticipate too much.

To define the sound of the current version, I must start by describing the sound of the older, copper coil, one. That one was a very captivating cartridge, with a good dynamic range, an unbound, well flowing sound, a slight bump in the frequency response in the higher range of the low frequencies which gave to the sound a character very adept adapt to reproducing jazz and rock music, also in view of the facts that all of that was accompanied by an inviting midrange and, loaded in my favourite range, by a slightly descending high frequency response. The older version wasn't the last word in detail resolution and in focus, though: the soundstage wasn't lacking, as both width and depth were satisfying, but often, mostly in comparison with higher class cartridges, the entities were represented more as clouds than as point sources, just as if the slight detail obscuration wasn't enabling the cartridge to discriminate the source from its very first reflections. Another slight problem, one which I thought I perceived only with a small number of records, was a slight discontinuity between the frequency ranges, maybe correlated with that above mentioned frequency response anomaly. I think the new version solves most of these problems, while, at the same time, it changes slightly the sound's general character. The slight frequency response bump is all but gone, leaving way to an enticing frequency response linearity; the slight colorations I perceived with the older model are much lower with this new version. The slight frequency response discontinuity is history, confirming my hypothesis that it was correlated with the frequency response anomaly.

What has changed in a really significant way, though, is the general transparency; the level of the detail reproduction, while still not being record-breaking as that of reference cartridges like my Lyra Clavis Evolve, is very satisfying and constant throughout the frequency range; this allows a focalisation which, while it might not satisfy those who are looking for fireworks, might well be more realistic than that of some top digital sources or, again, of some cartridges which cost some times the price of this one. Focalisation leads us to soundstage; stage depth, which was very good with the older model, seems to be intact; width is much improved, as is height - a parameter which never ceases to perplex me, so much that I am not inclined to attribute it a significant importance while evaluating other products than speakers or the ideal affinity between a speaker and a room.

I was talking about VTA, above: the old version was quite critical, very sensitive to microvariations, quite difficult to set up. The new one is much more tolerant, I think, and I don't know why, as the stylus shape is the same; still, it's easier to get to the point where you feel the set up is optimal. Another surprise, the new one is a better tracker: the older version wasn't able to track the second-to-last track of the (old) HiFi News and Record Review test record without some slight distortion; the new one passes the test with flying colours. This better tracking ability is evident during normal (not steady-tones J) listening sessions; I perceive a new calm in tracking the grooves, an ease not matched by any other MC cartridge I have experienced, extended also to the worst records and to the innermost grooves. This tracking calm reflects into a new listening calm, as if that almost subconscious worry about my beloved records wearing out was even lower, almost absent. I think one of the undeclared improvements is the cantilever suspension…

So, in summary, the cartridge is more neutral, more detailed, less coloured and easier to set up than its previous incarnation. Disadvantages? Well, here I must confess one thing, evidence of which you can find in the Italian version of this review, if you know my first language. I was ready to write, here also, that the old version was somewhat more enthusiastic than the new one, that this was because I perceived it as a top-of-the-cheap-range (cheap is a relative word, it's clear that, if you can afford to spend 600 Euro or more for a phono cartridge, you have solved most of your economical problems), while the new one is a kind of "your first super cartridge". This argument stands, I still perceive this cartridge as the cheapest super cartridge, but that sense of it being less enthusiastic than the older one is gone, since I tried to trust my feeling that the newer one was lower in output. So I set the phono preamp gain a smidge higher, and the enthusiasm was back. I think a follow up will be due for our Italian readers…What remains, against the older version, is a neutrality which can sometimes be misinterpreted as whiteness, but which is absolutely not. Is this neutrality and low coloration level correlated with the use of silver wire? I won't tell you that, I am not the kind of guy who generalises… The Silver Low is, to summarise, a more versatile cartridge than the older one, a cartridge of which you won't think it's more adept to reproducing a particular musical fare or diet, while keeping in line with the Benz tradition of delicacy in detail reproduction and of gentleness.

An interesting comparison can be that with the Ortofon SPU Royal N, which costs a little bit more according to the official list, but which can be obtained sometimes at a comparable price. The SPU, that old dinosaur, is heavier, tracks less easily and does it at a 3 grams weight, is much more difficult to optimise and much more critical in partnering components choice. Soundwise, the comparison is perfectly possible, and I think I can understand a preference for either one. The Scheu is more neutral, more extended, more detailed and warmer sounding; the SPU, from the lower midrange to the lower high frequencies, seems to respect instrumental colour more than the Scheu - I don't think I have heard the wood of which string instruments are made better than with the SPU , and has that touch of indefinable, inexplicable "magic" which has won so many fans to it. Surface noise is low with both cartridges, and somewhat lower with the SPU. The SPU, though, has a tendency to become unbearably bright if coupled with the wrong partners, and I don't think it is a first (or even a second, thinking about that) choice for a listener who prefers modern, lighter music: the low frequency attenuation robs some of the physical impact which is integral part of the experience. As a final consideration, I think it's the Scheu which is to be preferred by someone who loves all music, and doesn't want to waste most of her/his time looking for the ideal partners.

No more Glider?

I think it's clear, from what I wrote, that I don't think this is a Glider anymore; this cartridge is the real top transducers' entry level; and this is also an intelligent choice, as the - unavoidable, I think - price increase is fully justified in this way. An intelligent product, rationally conceived, somewhat easier to admire than to love, at first, but which is able to prove itself dependable in perspective: a long term partner, respectful with records, neutral, with that kind of sweetness Benz cartridges are characterised by. The price is, again - as usual, for Herr Scheu - almost bargain-level, as it is comparable to that of the Glider in most markets…