SUT With a Manley Steelhead RC?

@car123 Per your suggestion, last night I connected the TT to the MM input of the Steelhead and maxed the gain.  At first I kind of liked it, because there was excitement in the sound, but after awhile I couldn't listen anymore and switched it back. to the MC input.  The noise floor seemed much higher in MM.  After I switched it back I thought I should have tried backing off the gain to see how it sounds, so maybe I will try that soon.  Your suggestion had been mentioned to me previously when I first bought the Manley, so I know it has merit.  I just wasn't happy with the first attempt.  I appreciate your help

IME, loading is all about gain.

I don't worry about it too much.  Low output low impedance.  High output, high impedance.  That's about it.

It's one detail I don't sweat.

The only reason to put a SUT on a Steelhead, IMO is to bypass whatever Manley is using in the gain stage.  Might be more quiet, might not.  Just me, but if the MM side is not black, that's not a good sign.

YMMV

snackeyp, it’s all about what works for you. Keep trying, you will find something you like.

I just can’t think that with the MSL Signature Platinum cartridge one of the top performing cartridges would be their own MSL SUT. Many others should work but how can a company that makes some of the world’s best cartridges not design a great matching SUT.

Maybe because designing and especially building a SUT is a vastly different enterprise from designing and building an MC cartridge for a small company like MSL. You’ll notice that among cartridge makers only the big guys also make SUTs, like Denon and Ortofon, and even Ortofon only makes SUTs specifically for its own cartridges.