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Transfiguration Orpheus, what step-up

Hello everyone !

I have previously owned a Transfiguration Phoenix, that I have now traded in for a Transfiguration Orpheus, and I am almost embarrassed to say that I think that the Orpheus perfomred better than the Orpheus in my setup. While changing the PU, I also changed from Scoutmaster to Super Scoutmaster with SDS. The sound is definately more airy but I think that the P´hoenix was more dynamic and was mmore alive, and this makes me think that maybe the step-up I have is not the right one for this PU, I have the SoundTraditionLive! MC-10 MC Step-Up Unit with Switches for Low and High Cartridge Impedance . Mounting Hashimoto HM3 MC Step-up Transformers that accommodate MC cartridges whose internal impedance is between 2 and 7 Ohms.

The Orpheus has an internal impedance of 2,5 Ohms.

Any suggestions to an explanation to my findings. It could of course just be the design, but I would really welcome any suggestions.

Kind regards

Jesper
scubadooo
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,468 posts
 
I think what you meant to say was that your last cartridge - the Phoenix sounded better than the Orpheus?? Be patient. My cartridge needed lots of time to find its place...yours does too. Talk to me in 3 months..but play it every day.
radrog
157 posts
 
Yup Stringreen rite again. My Clearaudio Goldfinger is sounding better and better everyday. VERY MAGICAL !!!!!!!
sirspeedy
738 posts
 
Hmm!Before my reliability issues kicked in(something shortly to go away)I went from the Temper-V(which I loved)to an Orpheus....

The Orpheus "clearly" outperformed it,in almost any category one can choose,out of the box!

I believe you might do well,to play around a bit more,with seup variables.

Good luck.
jtimothya
612 posts
 
 
Congratulations on acquiring a really nice cartridge. The O needs a good 50-70 hours to begin revealing itself and mine took upward to 120 hours until I thought it well run-in.

I don't use a step-up transformer, so I'm no help there. On several different phono stages I've found 100 - 200 Ohms is a good place to start for resistance. I've finally settled on 170.

Having the stylus azimuth set properly pays big dividends with the Orpheus. If your tonearm allows this adjustment, you can set azimuth with a meter and a test record, or by ear. (Several good threads w/ azimuth discussion.)
 
Tim
audiofeil
4,011 posts
 
Depending on the phono stage and speakers, I find the optimal loading for Orpheus to be 50-150 ohms.

However, I know somebody loading at 47K and thinks it sounds great.

Go figure.

YMMV

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