Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Review of Benz Glider SL by Joseph Czentnar

Let me first start off by stating that I’m not one of those guys that can’t actually hear the difference between a guitar and a trumpet. I am a guitar player/musician that actually owns a studio, (1” tape-all analog) and have been in bands all of my life, and now also do my own mastering. My day job is in the technical field of testing, so I get to play with a lot of technical widgets.
A lot of my colleagues think that it’s funny that I am so into vinyl. I call it my “nerd” hobby, and I think that everyone should have at least one nerd hobby, or something to escape to.
For me, it has always been about “tone”. As a guitar player, nothing beats a good guitar plugged into a good tube amp that’s cranked all the way up. Your guitar provides at least 33% of the tone, and the amp the other 33%, and the player himself at least the other 33%. The phono cartridge is a very similar device, and operates almost identically as a string vibrating over the magnetic pickup. It can be said that very small differences can and do make a huge difference in devices such as these, which is why the phono cartridge selection process is so cool and unique to the person listening and FEELING the music at that point in time. People like what they like, for whatever reason, and that’s ok, because that is what music is all about. Nobody is right, and nobody is wrong.
So, all that being said, this is my humble setup:
1) Fatman 18-2 class A integrated tube amp ( I absolutely love this amp)
2) ITUBE iPOD D to A converter ( Came with Fatman amp)
3) Creek OBH-9SE phono stage for MC cartridge
4) Conrad Johnson PV-3 (used for MM cartridges)
5) Adcom GCD-575 CD player (this thing just won’t die, also has very warm tone for digital.
6) Vintage JBL C-35 cabinets D130/075 w/custom crossovers (super tweeters coming soon)
7) Bob Carver Signature Sub
8) Merrill Heirloom “B” turntable with Eminent Technologies 2.0 tonearm.
9) Benz Glider SL ( newest addition to setup)
10) Some relatively cheap Audioquest cables from tonearm to preamp.

Today I want to talk specifically about the new Glider SL cartridge that I picked up to replace my AT-150-MLX. I first heard the Glider about 10 years ago, and fell in love with the TONE immediately. There was one problem at this time with this cartridge-it had a different stylus on it that really had problems tracking the inner groove. The tone was always awesome, but distortion was a problem on the last song of just about every record. My ear is very sensitive to this type of distortion, and I had to find something else, and I believe I settled on either the Shure V-15 or the AT 440 ML, both of which had micro line contact stylus’.
Well, here we are today 2009, and I regularly check out the Benz line. I noticed that the newer Glider had the same stylus shape as the higher price Benz models. I figured that the tracking would be better than before, so I decided to give my friends up at Elusive Disc a call. They got the cartridge out that day, and it arrived the next day. The Cartridge went in without any problems. IMMEDIATELY I remembered the tonality of this cartridge. To my delight, there were no harsh highs, but a gigantic midrange and heart thumping bass response. The separation of this cartridge is also quite spectacular. I believe the spec is around 35 dB, but your ears need to be the judge of this, as there isn’t a spec for depth of presentation. Now, I have not heard some of Benz’ $10,000 Benz cartridges, but the sound stage is something to behold on this Glider. If you do A/B comparison’s of the identical LP against the same CD, the difference would be so incredibly obvious. I won’t get into mp3’s too much, but let me just say that I am downloading 16 bit .WAV songs to my iPOD now that were recorded off of my turntable, as the mp3’s just loose way too much (yes, even at 320k the ambience is gone).
My wife Trish who is deaf in one ear noticed the incredible tonality immediately, and made mention of how dead quiet it is in the groove between tracks, another huge benefit of the micro-line stylus, and probably the low output design.
The next test for me was the inner groove-distortion-tracking test, which is something that EVERY cartridge should pass in this day and age. I immediately went for Diana Krall’s best of LP. The last song on side one (Frim Fram Sauce) always distorts on some of the louder parts of that song. It also did this with the Glider, AT-150-MLX, V-15 etc. I’d always believed that there was/is a problem with this pressing ( I have 2 copies of this) and not the fault of the cartridge, and now I am convinced of it. It’s actually not cut that far toward the center of the record either. Regardless, on all other LP’s I have played, I have not heard any inner groove distortion to speak of.
Ok, I’m not great with all of the buzzwords, but I’ll do my best:
This cartridge is analytical but without being bright. I would think this is due in part to the silent background, and killer stylus. To me this means that the subtle detail of little things like piano tonality, and stand up bass slap are dead on in volume and presentation.
Bass response is over the top without being boomy. Standup bass slap detail is also something to behold. The frequency response card that comes with this cartridge seems to be right on with what I would expect.
The midrange is the best I have yet heard, and the vintage JBL’s don’t lie about this. They are 110 dB at 1 watt. If there is ANYTHING exaggerated, it WILL stick out like a sore thumb.
My final comment on this cartridge is TONE. I put on the DCC pressing of Van Halen’s 1st lp, and was just blown away by his guitar tone. Eddy called it the “brown sound”. I am quite familiar with what this is SUPPOSED to sound like, and it was right on the money. By the way, this cartridge is not even close to being broke in yet. I maybe have 10 hours on it, and it is very impressive now.
If I can make any recommendations, I want to say this:
Let your ears be your guide. There are some components that some people call “mid-fi garbage” that I call a bargain.

eagertrader

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $300.00 from Audiogon

Summary:
I can't add much more to what has been already said by previous reviewers. I use my Glider on a Rega P5/RB700 and the musical presentation is superb. A world class bargain when purchased used and in good condition. The Glider brings your analog listening experience to a new level, to the point that you forget that you're listening to vynil, as it will beat many good cd players. Very revealing it craves for comparably good turntable, cables, amplification and speaker equipment in the same or above leagues.

Strengths:
Low noise: almost none and in new or mint condition records none at all. It brings out the texture, tridimentionality and realistic feel of the original performance. Silky smooth presentation. Price/performance ratio especially when purchased pre-owned.

Weaknesses:
You better be careful when mounting, setting up, and handling the Glider, as there is no shield to protect the stilus.

Similar Products Used:
Grado Black, Denon DL-60, Denon DL-160

robinliebrechts

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $875.00 from Audio Selectief Snee

Summary:
I bought the Glider m2 with medium output so that it integrated better with my Holfi Ellipse phonopreamp, higher output. I set the Holfi to 1000 ohms. This is recommended by critics. I use a transrotor Porcino turntable and the combination with Benz Glider M2 is excellent. With a good record the sound is dynamic, clean, detailed and attractive with an excellent midrange and pure highs and pounding lows if required. Tracking ability is also excellent. For me 875 euro's is a lot of money but the Glider m2 is certainly worth it. The break in period is quite long, about 100 hours. Robin

Strengths:
Sound Tracking Looks

Weaknesses:
None for me

Similar Products Used:
Benz Ace mc low output Rega Super elys mm

Price Paid:  $350.00 from Topclass

Summary:
This cart is OK for the price. However, I would like to let everyone know, don't buy from Topclass in HK. Mr. Cheuk sold things higher price & inferior quality to new or look like poor customers.

Strengths:
Price performance

Price Paid:  $500.00 from Topclass Audio

Summary:
This cartridge is good, although I did not realise I bought a retipped one after I got the chance to talk to the real dealer.

Mr. Cheuk claimed that he is the dealer of Benz Micro (which he is NOT). I found out from the dealer that the pickup I bought was not new, it was a retipped cartridge. I was completed cheated by Topclass Cheuk!!! I should have realised this when his store have so many used or so-called 'second handed" products.

Moreover, I found out that he is very impolite to new buyers like us. I heard that he reserves the best stuff for himself and his old buddy customers, while leaving the second graded cartridge and things like that to outside customers. He is also very "inched" to the other.

I will never shop from this Topclass audio in Hong Kong again. For the ones who are cheated or being looked down by him, I would like to say: Deal Hui LO Mo and Deal Hui LO Mo Hei!!! He is a complete cheater and lier. WE SHOULD ALL STOP FROM BUYING FROM THIS CRIMINAL.

Strengths:
Neutral with the Benz Micro Switzerland signature

Weaknesses:
Lack the base and is not as fine as the Ortofons

Similar Products Used:
Denon 103 Pro, Dynavector XX-1L