Soundsmith Sotto Voce

Each one handcrafted by Peter Ledermann - Made in the USA.

The Soundsmith Sotto Voce is a medium-output version of the incredible "The Voice" cartridge; perfect for preamps that have that 48dB-58dB fixed gain, so you don't have to worry about overloading your phonostage with a moving magnet, or having to turn up the volume and deal with increased noise from a low-output moving coil.

It overturns the myth that moving coil cartridges are the only path towards perfection. After all, what is the “advantage” of the moving coil type of cartridge? Low effective moving mass, right? We got less. Much less. And if you understand moving mass, Less IS more.

The 40-year evolution of “The Voice” cartridge (on which the Sotto Voce is based) affords lower effective moving mass than any of them. Far lower. It even has 40% less than our other moving iron designs! Why is that good? Because when you lower the moving mass, it’s easier to control. If it’s easier to control, the stylus can stay in better contact with the groove walls. That’s good, because if you can’t stay in contact with the groove walls, you can’t hear what’s on the record.

Is a moving coil preamp required? No. This cart is designed to be used with a moving magnet preamp. No transformers. No finicky multi-stage ultra high gain preamp required. Less is more here, too.

Once you’ve heard Sotto Voce, you’ll never go back. The price?? Oh yes, “less is more” applies here too...