chakster, you can always out board them.
Advice on SUT for Koetsu Rosewood - EAR MC-4, Slagle/EMIA, other
I recently tried a friend's Sound Traditions Hashimoto hm7 transformer-based sut and overall the sound was substantially more Dynamic and alive and generally better than my current Berning preamp MC section. The problem was the images were just so large and the presentation a little too forward for my tastes. I am thinking a different Sut such as the EAR MC- 4 or an Intact Audio (Slagle) Step Up Transformer, copper.
Has anyone used these Sut's and could advise about whether they might do what I'm looking for? I'm hoping to add more dynamics and life but I do prefer a slightly laid-back presentation to a forward one and I don't want giant instruments in the soundstage. I listen to mostly old Jazz and Blues with some rock and classical mixed in. I am not looking for the last word in in treble detail or "air" and my biggest sonic priorities are organic , rich mids, good sounstaging, and a realistic tonal balance that does not accentuate the top end as so many components seem to do (IMHO). So I guess I am looking for a sut with a reputation for musicality and richness, without javing a forward sound. But I would love somethng as amazing sounding as the Hashimoto HM-7 based SUT.
My system is a Koetsu Rosewood Signature (.4mv), Jelco 850M on a Sota Star Sapphire, Berning all-tube bespoke capacitance coupled preamp (46 dB gain on the MM stage, Jensen transformers on the moving coil stage), Quicksilver v4 monos, Verity Audio Pafisals.
Thanks for any thoughts.
Has anyone used these Sut's and could advise about whether they might do what I'm looking for? I'm hoping to add more dynamics and life but I do prefer a slightly laid-back presentation to a forward one and I don't want giant instruments in the soundstage. I listen to mostly old Jazz and Blues with some rock and classical mixed in. I am not looking for the last word in in treble detail or "air" and my biggest sonic priorities are organic , rich mids, good sounstaging, and a realistic tonal balance that does not accentuate the top end as so many components seem to do (IMHO). So I guess I am looking for a sut with a reputation for musicality and richness, without javing a forward sound. But I would love somethng as amazing sounding as the Hashimoto HM-7 based SUT.
My system is a Koetsu Rosewood Signature (.4mv), Jelco 850M on a Sota Star Sapphire, Berning all-tube bespoke capacitance coupled preamp (46 dB gain on the MM stage, Jensen transformers on the moving coil stage), Quicksilver v4 monos, Verity Audio Pafisals.
Thanks for any thoughts.
- ...
- 83 posts total
Montaldo, read this. http://www.kandkaudio.com/applications-guide/ It will back up what Atmasphere has discussed and give you the math to properly load your cartridge. Mike |
Regarding the reviews for various SUTs you will find a lot on Arthur Salvatore's site, he praise ZYX CPP-1 headamp and prefers it over many SUTs. |
The K&K link does not "back" what Ralph says. Ralph states (correctly) that for any given source there is one load that will make the transformer act in the manner for which it was designed. The K&K link assumes the transformer to be a perfect device that simply reflects an impedance and has no other impact on the sound. It is my belief that SUT's should be designed to work optimally in an unloaded situation with 47K input resistor and ~100pf of cable capacitance being the worst case situation. If the cartridge needs additional loading that should be placed at the primary of the SUT to load the cartridge directly. I find secondary loading to make a cartridge behave under various situations to be a sonic band-aid. Years ago I found it interesting that people who use active gain stages tend to find their MC cartridges insensitive to loading and those who use SUT's can get fanatical about it. I then went through the process of playing with loads on both the primary and the secondary of various SUT's and found that loading the secondary had a much more profound effect on the sonics. If the transformer were ideal then a 100Ω load should be a 100Ω load independent of whether it is at the cartridge directly or reflected through the transformer. Since the differences were not subtle I came to the conclusion that the load on the secondary was altering the sound of the transformer as much or more than it was the cartridge. This goes a long way to explain the "black art" label attached to loading SUT's since loading the secondary changes both the sound of the SUT and the sound of the cartridge at the same time. dave |
Dave I am confused on the second variable. Or what you can do to the transformer to make the cartridge not need loading. Let's say you have 5 ohm cart. We use the 10x rule so 50 ohms is a ballpark load. We have no input resistor on the phono amp. Can you build a transformer say 1 to 20 to meet that 50 ohm need. Or to put it another way on a 1 to 20 step up, what is the load variance window you can get by material and or winding? Thanks Tom |
- 83 posts total