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

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.

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...

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.

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.

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Give the Allnic AUT 2000 an audition. It is "Incredible".