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

@lalitk I stand strong in my expressed certitude, that the usual use of Audio Equipment as a means to replay recorded music is only a Hobby/Enthusiasm to participated in as a means of entertainment, no different to how any other experience had of encountering music or music/song is expected to offer. I fail to see how the usual use of Audio Equipment is able to be suggested to be anything else but a method to be entertained.

There is a goal to be achieved, which is to create an end sound that is clearly understood as a being a performance which is recorded and able to produce Music or Music/Song. 

With the permutations available today for the Sources, Amplification, Speakers, there is much to be read that very strongly suggests there is not a ubiquitous path taken by individuals for their selecting particular devices for the assembly of the Audio System.

It can be seen on regular occasion, especially within forums, that an individuals choice being made for devices to be used in their Audio System are not able to be embraced, accepted or encouraged by another. Is this not quite strange as a outcome, when mostly all of the individuals in communication, are all sharing about what they have chose as devices to entertain themselves only.

It does seem that through creating increased experiences of available Audio related devices. That different options for devices being experienced in use, have for some become a more attractive device to wed themselves to.

One person or a group of individuals expressing their preference for a particular device. Certainly does not mean it is a better choice over another's, who is not showing intent to experience such a device.  

From my own end, I am yet to encounter a DD, ID, BD TT, in the past 30+ Years that has not been able as a Source to replay recorded Music or Music/Song to a level that has not been able to be enjoyed. The same can be said for Amplification and Speakers encountered in the same timeline which have been used with TT's as a Source. I do totally agree, one permutation type of Source > Amp > Speakers will on many occasions produce an end sound that can have a noticeable difference to another type of permutation of Audio Devices having been assembled.   

My usage of Idler Drives have a long term history, and more than one ID is still owned.

When ID's are worked with in the way you have selected for your 301. My experiences of doing work that comes from a similar thought, as well as experiencing work carried out quite similar to the methods chosen by yourself. Strongly suggest there is something very attractive to be discovered.

I would very much like to experience the Reed TA as well. My local HiFi Group has a member who is also a Proprietor of a Audio Business. This Business supplies TA's of which there are Reed TA Models offered. To date the Group Sessions I have been able to attend has been demo'd a TA from this individual, being the Glanz MK 1200S. Which at a later date, and after a selection of TA's being trialed, inclusive of my loaned SME IV, become a group members TA. The 1200S, ended up being used with a Miyajima Cart'.  Experiencing this TA>Cart' has always been very much enjoyed as a experience. 

       

@mijostyn 

It sounds like you got carried away by your love for Sota Sapphire, Kuzma 4 point 9 ….appreciate the good-natured exchange! If there's anything you'd like to add to SUT+phono discussion, feel free to share. I'm all ears!

I fail to see how the usual use of Audio Equipment is able to be suggested to be anything else but a method to be entertained.

Music is more than entertainment for some of us: it is nutritious, sustaining our spirit just as food sustains the body.

By the way, congratulations on your quick recovery! (Maybe it's the music.....)

@dogberry I think music is a separate issue almost entirely. I can enjoy music on a transistor radio. Being an audiophile is about the sound for which there are innumerable definitions. For me it is recreating the live performance on my audiophile system. My shop system on the other hand is only about volume, but that system is in use most of the time.