Soundsmith Strain Gauge "Highly Commended" by Hi-Fi News

May's Hi-Fi News features a review of Soundsmith's SG-200 strain gauge cartridge system.

The review's verdict is "Clearly the price ticket will preclude ownership for many audio enthusiasts. Nevertheless when you consider the low running cost - the fact that you'll likely own it forever thanks to its replaceable stylus - all vinyl aficionados with high-end systems owe it to themselves to hear this thrilling cartridge. Just be warned that living with the Soundsmith Strain Gauge will only lead to many foolishly late nights. Sound quality 87%"

We are pleased that this respected magazine has confirmed our own impressions of this breakthrough product and identified its low whole-life cost of ownership due to its user-replaceable stylus.

Green Mountain Rios win Hi-Fi Choice's Best Buy award

In May's issue of Hi-FI Choice, Paul Messenger gives Green Mountain Audio's Rio loudspeakers the magazine’s top 5-star rating meriting a Best Buy award.

Messenger writes "This exceptional performer is way ahead of its peers in delivering a vivid and engrossing musical experience, so value for money is, therefore, unquestionably very high."

The conclusion: "Fabulously tight timing and coherence makes for a very expressive and musically literate performer. Enclosure and ingredient selection show considerable care, while value for money is unquestionably very high."

In their product summary, Hi-Fi Choice list the "Fors" as: brilliant timing; vivid dynamic expression and superior phase coherence.

Read the Hi-Fi Choice review in full at Techradar.com. (link to external site).

Location

We are located in the South Buckinghamshire village of Stoke Poges, convenient for Heathrow and the Thames Valley and the location that inspiration for Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard",

Our mission

To help create audio systems that replay music convincingly, conveying all the emotion of the original performance, at real world prices. Our aim is to offer components that create the illusion of musicians performing in the room. Our search has identified a number of smaller manufacturers who work harder to design audio components that meet our demanding expectations.

We believe that audio equipment doesn't have to be expensive to be good and we take great delight in breaking the rules by finding outstanding sounding equipment at sensible price points.

We offer some distinctive, appealing products by Soundsmith, Quicksilver Audio, Dynavector, Nola, Green Mountain Audio, Galibier Design, Discovery Cable, Prism Sound, Benz Micro, Astin Trew, Valvet, Morsiani, Durand Tonearms, Klipsch, WBT and Hannl.

Realism and dynamics

For each of the products we offer, we looked for tonal accuracy, detail resolution, dynamics and timing, within realistic budget constraints. The ranges we have selected meet our criteria and are built by designer/manufacturers who share our values and ethos on high fidelity.

We have sourced our own range of moving coil cartridges and tonearm which offer incredible performance for relatively modest prices. We are receptive to new product developments like the exceptional Soundsmith Strain Gauge phono cartridge system and the magnificent Klipsch Jubilee horn speaker. We are the first UK home audio stockist for the Prism Sound Orpheus FireWire interface, which was awarded Hi Fi News’s “Outstanding Product” award in January 2010.

We lean strongly towards vinyl as a source and offer a turntable set-up and tuning service, we convert vinyl records to high resolution digital using Pure Vinyl 3 software for Mac by Channel D.

Exchange rates and manufacturer prices are changing faster than our ability to keep up. The prices shown on this site were correct at the time they were posted however please regard them as indicative and check with us for current pricing. Our goal is to be as competitive as possible.