Step Up Transformer

@pindac I recognize the ’flavour of the day’ argument, which is why I ended up with more cartridges than strictly necessary and various tonearm and amplification options. After reaching saturation point with record collecting and satisfaction point with the audio system, the ’hobby’ aspect is now restricted to cart rolling. From personal (okay lewm?) experience I’ve learned that some combinations stand out, sometimes when you least expect it to. The sound has an intrinsic rightness, as if there’s some kind of electric handshake. In my system(s) the Ortofon cartridges I own behave like this every time I connect them to an SUT.

From personal (okay lewm?) experience I’ve learned that some combinations stand out, sometimes when you least expect it to. The sound has an intrinsic rightness, as if there’s some kind of electric handshake. In my system(s) the Ortofon cartridges I own behave like this every time I connect them to an SUT.

@edgewear 

Several cartridges, phono stages, tonearms here too (LOTS of headshells and arm wands on hand) -- and what you've written really gels and resonates with my experience! Without a SUT I perceive Ortofons as dry, lean, and lacking passion. With a SUT - they're still not a Koetsu but sometimes really surprise me and "hit the spot". The Windfeld Ti is probably my most "hot and cold" cartridge, but for last session at least, it was very hot!

The Blue Lace on FR64S is my unimpeachable Reference. It's always, consistently great -- so it's not knocked about by the ebb & flow of my transient preferences and moods. The various Benzes, Shelters, Ortofons, and other Koetsus are constantly undulating up & down in rankings (relative to each other) with my affections. There's always ONE of these that makes me think "I like this as much as the Blue Lace!", but it never lasts for long lol.

Did not mean to offend anyone. Just trying to make a point about the subjective nature of these decisions. It seems the OP has chosen a SUT. One hopes he will be happy with it, and even more than that, it will be interesting to learn how he  likes it compared to his high gain phono stage for sound quality with his cartridge. 

Dear @lewm : I think that more and more Agon forum audiophiles ( 90% ) as in other internet audio forums people are fully oriented to what they like and nothing wrong with that .

The experimented audiophiles as edgewear or mulveling and many others targets are what I said here about and we can read and confirm that issue through the posts in this thread and in almost any other threads, even the OP just does not cares of what is recorded in those LP groove modulations and obviously not only him.

I think too that an issue is that today part of our hobby more than enjoy true MUSIC as is recorded or " near " live event: " we are looking for colorations, added colorations, in what we listen day by day.

The SUT is a pristine example as many other added links in our home system chain, I already posted: a SUT can’t improve any recorded LP vs an active high gain phono unit. Everything that we add to the cartridge signal during LP reproduction can’t improve in no single way the quality levels of what we listen with out those " adds ". So we like those added " colorations/distortions " and can be addictive. In the past I was " there " in that same " road " that is part of the fun even if is wrong road.

In my system I try to put at MINIMUM the steps where the analog/digital audio signal must pass through but these is me and what I learned about is that when we put at minimum those signal steps what we experienced through our room/system is reallu outstanding and just near the " best " we can be to MUSIC recordings or live event.

The MUSIC audio road is a learning ladder that we have to go up step by step and no I know I don’t finished yet.

Lewm and dear friends: don't you think that all those recording process steps till we receive the LP are not added enough distortion/coloration  to add other than the minimum necessary steps during the play process?

R.