CineMag SUT

Sib-thanks for the reply.
I have briefly tried the hash and find it a bit too detailed for my taste. Lean sounding but it was a 501 shelter cart.
I'm actually auditioning a friend home made altec 4722 similar to bobs. I like the results but its a bit pricey to buy a new one from bob. Where as the cinemag is a lot cheaper.
Half the price of the altecs from bobs.

When I was dealing with Bob he recommended the following in regards to the Koetsu:

1) Sowter
2) Cinemag
3) Altec

Bob's Sowter SUT was nice but in the end I just preferred a SUT with a little higher gain. No question that the Cinemag is the best value. I'm happily using a Cinemag (from Choir audio not from Bob)with a Denon 103R in a second system.

I have tried many SUT's and find the results are cartridge dependant. I like the Cinemag or 4722 best for 103 and a few others compared to Hashimoto or S&B but prefer the later on other like Clearaudio or Benz. I imagine phono pre effects choice also. The Silk SUT is in the league of the higher priced SUT for many carts and is my current favorite for my Stradivari. I think it would be great if there was a place you could rent them so they could be tried out.

Thanks guys.
I briefly tried the hashimoto but found it a bit too detailed & lean for my taste. But the soundstage, the refinement is really there. The gain was also a bit on the high side for me.
the Cinemag is the one am curious as to how these compares to the Altec. On the other forum a gentleman shared that both altec and cinemag are similar (father and son thingy).

I have been using a borrowed Cinemag SUT (Bob's) w/ a Shelter 501 pair (stereo and mono) on my VPI Aries, and I thought that it was good - certainly better than the old Audio Note AN-S2 I had been using. Neither SUT was resolving enough for my taste when hooked up to my Audio Note OTO SE phono amp.

After careful consideration, I ordered a Hashimoto-based SUT-H John Parker at Choir Audio. The unit just arrived last week and I hear a huge improvement in resolution and dynamics right out of the box! I don't see very many audio products that I can say make a night and day difference in my system, but this SUT is one of those.

I can't say enough about my positive experience dealing with John. He's a great guy and so far his level of service and communications have been second to none. Highly recomended.