Phono preamp or SUT for low output moving coil

I went down both paths: I had Dave Slagle make me a copper EMIA SUT matched to the specs of my preamp, and I had a Sunvallley Audio SV-EQ1616D "phono equalizer" as they call it. I liked both. However, the phono stage allowed me to fine tune capacitance and load, creating a perfect bridge between my cartridge (Benz Micro SNL Ebony at that time) and my Pre (Ed Shilling’s "The Truth"); also in comparison, the SUT (arguably one of the very best), brought the music more forward and overall added some Technicolor "bombast". So I kept the Sunvalley, until I bought a SUPRATEK Grange, which comes with a fabulous phono stage built in (MC only!). If I were you, I would certainly give the Sunvalley a serious listening.

Dear @billstevenson : Always exist the subjective factor and you compared the Stellar against truly expensive units, however  differences are not so big as the price differences.

All electronics have its own limitations  and that subjective factor could makes thatsome audiophileslike it the Stellar over the expensive phono stages. I listened 3-4  times the Stellar and it's not easy to find out its weak because you have evrything from reproduced MUSIC we need with aplomb.

R.

Hi Raul,

What is essential for me, and you and I had discussed this some time ago and reached agreement, is that any phono stage must - MUST - accurately amplify the signal it is processing in accordance with the RIAA curve.  The Stellar happens to do this very well.  Everything else, and I mean that literally, is secondary to that requirement.  And yet very few do including many very expensive ones. 

A SUT is just gain. Little if any ability to manage impedance to best match the needs of the cartridge. I would advise finding a photo stage that has the necessary gain plus impedance adjustments. 65 - 70 db is needed. 

sgordo, I beg to differ; a SUT has everything to do with the impedance the cartridge will see. There is a direct mathematical correlation, in fact. And the more voltage gain afforded by a SUT, the lower the impedance seen by the cartridge, which will be the input impedance of the phono stage (usually 47K ohms) divided by the square of the turns ratio (which is synonymous with voltage gain). This law of behavior can create difficulties if you want to augment the signal voltage of LOMCs with high internal resistance or low output MI types (because they have relatively very high inductance) using a SUT.