The good news for many is they won't have to hunt down a dealer to check out any of this elite range of phono pickups, because they’ll be displayed at this year’s Melbourne International Hi-Fi Show.

Which is serendipitous since StereoNET staffers had the chance to get up close and personal with a quartet of Soundsmith cartridges recently and to say they came away impressed is something of a cliché, as well as an understatement.

From the entry level model called the Otello ($699) to the pinnacle of the range in the Hyperion/Helios ($11,000) one fact stood out: all are hand built to exacting standards by Soundsmith’s owner, Peter Lederman and his team in the U.S.

Lederman is an accomplished craftsman who did piles of work on B&O’s moving iron cartridges back in the 60s and 70s. He clearly loves the technology and has taken it to new levels of excellence in the Soundsmith range.

Lederman also loves strain gauge cartridges. Those of us lucky enough to have heard a Winlabs strain gauge cartridge in the 70s are excited Lederman has turned his hand to perfecting that technology.

Soundsmith are dab hands at refurbishing cartridges and have been doing this for decades. But Lederman also builds a full system preamp and affordable phono stages with prices pitched at $1499 and above.

Also unique to Soundsmith is their rebuild service that is just a 20 per cent cost over the life of any of their exotic cartridges. Other manufacturers can charge up to 80 per cent.

Soundsmith is available now via selected dealers.

Visit Soundsmith at the 2016 Melbourne International HiFi Show, Albert Room, July 1st-3rd, 2016. Tickets available now.

For more information visit Radiance Audio Visual.