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which is better ? MC phono stage or MM+step-up ?

anyone care to share what would yield to a better sound or how they are different ?
Some people i know prefer a stand alone MC phono stage. While others swear by the MM phono stage plus adding a step up tranny for an mc cart.
How are they different and in what way is one better than the other sonically ?
thanks
nolitan
emorrisiv
313 posts
 
My pleasure Nolitan.

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jimbojrjb
54 posts
 
Well my 2 cents is that I am using an on board phono stage off my Audio Research SP9MKIII with a LOMC (.5mv) and I have never had a more smooth, open, detailed, warm and "live" sound than I do now. But I am lucky in that the on board phono stage had 67db of gain right out of the gate, so all I had to do was adjust the impedence to 100 0hms to match the cart and away I went.
thuchan
1,009 posts
 
Definitely a good MM + Step Up. It makes sense to invest in different SUTs or at least go for an excellent one and use many tonearms at the same time - there are solutions for doing so...
nolitan OP
865 posts
 
After these months of playing around with different combo, i much prefer in the end, mm+ step up rather than a straight MC phono stage.
emorrisiv
313 posts
 
Glad to hear it Nolitan.
I just reset my SUT from 1/30 to 1/15 ratio. This seams to be working well with my Denon 103. The 30x is good, but the 200 ohm load from the 15x adds some mid and high frequency clarity. Some would call it brighter, I would call it more balanced.

e
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