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

All the same, well done! I am not in the least into woo-woo medical stuff, but if musical encounters make you walk further, go for it.

Dear @mijostyn  : "  I can enjoy music on a transistor radio. "

At least in the last 20-25 years I posted exactly that dozens and dozens times, totaly right.

 

" 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. "

 

Well said it.

 

R.

Note: It is not any Radio, it is a @mijostyn Radiodevil

When I use my Xbox F1-23 Game for entertainment as a driving experience, I am convinced the set up for the gaming experience is able to bring me extremely close to being a F1 Teams Driver at a Race Track. Or maybe?,  I am just over exaggerating what I am perceiving, as I have never had my Xbox at a F1 event with the access to being a F1 Driver and a F1 gamer in conjunction smiley

Ones mind can play great tricks on oneself.