Step Up Transformers….Are they Worth the Trouble?


Some of you may aware of my Garrard 301 project, it’s now very close to completion. The plinth finally shipped from Hungry after 3 months of long wait.

Given my last experience with Hana Umami Red, I would like to take things to the next level. Which brings me to mating low output cart with a SUT. Every review I’ve read so far suggests when the SUT-MC match is right, the end result is heavenly. The bass is right, the midrange is clear, and most importantly, the highs are relaxed and extended—not rolled off.

I am not saying you can’t get great sound without a SUT but it appears with a properly matched SUT, sound can be quite magical.

Thought this would be the right time to get input from experienced users here since I am still contemplating my cartridge and outboard phonostage options.

My preference would be to go with a tube phono…I kinda miss tinkering with tubes :-)

My system, Garrard 301 (fully refurbished), Reed 3P tonearm, Accuphase E-650 with built-in AD50 analog board ➡️ Tannoy Canterbury’s.

Cart and phono under consideration through my dealer,

Fuuga - Output : 0.35 mVrms | Impedance : 2.5 Ω (1kHz)

Phonostage - Tron Convergence and Konus Audio Phono Series 1000

The cart - MC combination, I am lusting after is Etsuro Urushi Bordeaux MC with their Etsuro Transformer.
https://www.etsurojapan.com/product/bordeaux

The other transformer is EMIA, cooper or silver version.

Your input is appreciated!

128x128lalitk

I am also considering auditioning Whest Audio TWO.2 Discrete dual mono phono. I would love to hear your direct experience and what cart you’re using with Whest phono. 

@mijostyn  : If you own the cartridge body then the best is to fix it with boron cantilever and MR stylus tip and not SAS boron.

 

R.

I am not sure, in fact I doubt, that the velocity of sound in the material used to construct the cantilever is necessarily directly proportional to the resulting audio sound quality, meaning "the faster the velocity of sound in the material, the more accurate is the cantilever". This is obviously because the job of the cantilever is to wiggle in the magnetic field due to undulations in the groove at the other end, thereby generating the audio signal as an electrical impulse. The job of the cantilever has nothing to do with conducting sound and might even be a detriment to accurate response to the groove undulations, because of secondary vibration of the cantilever.  Further, aluminum cantilevers or any other type where the stylus can be press-fitted into the cantilever, rather than glued to a blank surface, may actually be an advantage. The glue adds extra mass just where you don't want it.