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Step up transformer for Benz Ebony TR cartridge

Friends, I have a good offer on a Benz Ebony LP and Benz Ebony TR. I have not heard either of them. I would ideally like a clean, fast and natural sounding cartridge. Recently I heard a Lyra Delos on a Rega P9 and RB1000 tonearm, while it was clean and fast it had a very CD like presentation. On good recordings it was great but on average recordings the high frequency was very CD like. I did not enter the Vinyl world to hear a CD like thing, no matter how high the resolution might be. IMO, analogue playback can remain or retain its analogue character still retrieve tons of details and play high resolution.
This is exactly my expectation from one of the Benz carts here. Reading the reviews, I felt the TR is more suitable for my taste which is to have a neutral and fast cartridge while still retaining the full glory of analogue playback. I listen to a lot of Rock n Roll (e.g Elvis) and old world classics so the cartridge should not over blow defects in the recordings but reveal the true character of the music that is on the record. In this context I have two questions:

1. Which of the two cartridge would be more suitable to my needs, Ebony TR or Ebony LP ?

2. If I go with Ebony TR, what kind of step up transformer would I need ? I currently use a RCM Sensor Prelude phonostage which has a gain of 76 db but I am not sure that is enough for the very low output voltage of Ebony TR. Can anyone suggest a suitable step up transformer which is not too expensive yet does justice to the TR ?

BTW, I use Verdier turntable and a Vector Basis 4 tonearm. The Verdier is neutral yet warm, very revealing yet a tad romantic. I would like to avoid a cartridge which is on the darker side of the neutral. If I have to err, I would like to have something on the livelier side of the neutral.

Please help and suggest.
pani
mulveling's avatar
mulveling
2,003 posts
 
I'd look for a SUT with a step-up ratio of at least 40:1. That'll yield 32dB of gain,
and the cartridge will see a load of 29 ohms (assuming the SUT is hooked into a
47K input). That should be sufficient; the loading would be analogous to that of
a typical 5 ohm MC seeing 150 ohms, which is fine.

A 0.1mV output is 9.5dB below 0.3mV, so you'd probably want at least 72dB
overall phono gain (i.e. a 40:1 SUT plus an MM stage with at least 40 dB).

The Bob's devices Cinemag 1131 sounds excellent and offers a 40:1 ratio -- I'm
currently using the 20:1 "low" setting with with my 0.3mV, 5ohm Koetsu.
Actually, in my current system w/ 48dB MM phono, 20+dB preamp, and
sensitive amp & speakers, I have quite a surplus of gain -- verging on too
much. The Ebony TR would probably be a lovely drop-in!

The Benz carts I've heard (none from the newer S class though, and only as high
as the Reference 3) have all been very enjoyable; definitely nothing that should
remind you of CD sound. You might also want to investigate Koetsu; so far
that's been my ultimate destination in the search for resolving & enjoyable
sound across all genres, and including less-than-stellar recordings.
vicdamone
850 posts
 
Garth Leerer of Musical Surroundings just commented on a Paul Seydor MC cartridge survey in the April issue of TAS.

Leere pointed out that the phonosatge used for the survey has a transformer-coupled input stage. Both the Benz and Clearaudio cartridges have high coil-impedances and preform at their best with high-gain phonostages.

I'd email the importer for a more substantial recommendation.
dailycitrus
26 posts
 
Thanks for the detailed in put. Your response, which is much more detailed that I can be, is much appreciated and unfortunately what i expected. The dealer is still checking but I think if I want to hang with a Benz and keep my Lyra i will have to settle for the L.

the Lyra has a SUT ratio of 20:1 / 26dB and as you suspected the phono input impedance is 47k and 2MV sensitivity (vintage McIntosh C22).
dailycitrus
26 posts
 
Mulveling, Talked to a few experts, read several reviews and exchanged emails with Bob; I ordered 1 Cinemag 1131 today. Thanks for that reference.

Also, what cables are you using from the TT to the SUT and from the SUT to the Pre-Amp? I am considering Bob's silver 1m for the TT to the SUT.

I will compare the Cinemag to the Lyra when it arrives.
mulveling's avatar
mulveling
2,003 posts
 
Dailycitrus,
Congrats! It's a really superb SUT at a reasonable price. It made a significant improvement on the VAC Renaissance III's phono stage (which had a Lundahl MC SUT built-in), and now that I'm getting more used to the sonic signature of the Eddie Current Transcription, it makes a nice improvement in detail and refinement there too (here it replaces the built-in Cinemag 3440).

I've been using 0.5m RCA Audioquest Colorado (copper) that I'd had lying around. Haven't compared to other cables in this position, but it works well. Just make sure you use something shielded. The rest of my system is all AQ silver; I generally find it cleaner and more detailed than copper without sounding bright/analytical. Would like to have silver here too, but I've used all the cash towards a new 'table. Might try swapping the Colorado and the 1m AQ Sky I've got downstream.

Were I in your position, I'd consider the Bob's silver cable too, though I've not heard it. The AQ prices keep getting more ludicrous.

Mike
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