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MC Transformer or phono stage - help anyone?

I am seeking the sage advice of all the vinyl experts. I have a Benz ruby 2 on an Audiomeca romance arm and turntable. I run it through the moving coil section of my Musical Fidelity Nuvista M3 integrated. The cartridge is medium output (.4 mV) and while I am happy with the sound I suspect the phono stage is the weak link of my system. I notice the bass to be a bit weak particulary lower notes. Does anyone have comments on what sort of improvement adding in either a good moving coil phono stage or transformer would have (little or large). If so which would you recommend (stage or transformer and brand)? I have tried to read up on this but still end up quite uncertain. My price range is uncertain - I would say what would I have to spend to see a reasonable difference. I would hope somewhere between 1-2,000 but less would not be bad. Options I wondered about were the Benz stage or the 47 labs phono cube. The rest of my system by the way is listed. The room is a large one (18 X 40 with cathedral ceilings and I listen to mostly classical and jazz, but some rock as well. Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Gary
gajgmusic
twl
3,251 posts
 
From my experiences, 70.5db total gain in the phono stage and linestage combined will not be sufficient for a .4mv output cartridge. I am using a cartridge with the same output, and I have 86db total gain. I am maybe a little too high on the gain because I am at full volume at about 10 o'clock on the volume knob. But I think you'll need at least 80db total gain and maybe even a little more than that, for that cartridge. If it is true that the cartridge gives only .3mv, then you will need 85db total gain, because that was perfect with the last .3mv cartridge that I had on my system. From what you described, I think you need more gain in the front end.
herman
2,245 posts
 
When I had the Pass Aleph Ono I had a different turntable and cartridge than I used with the IO so it would be hard to give a definitive answer. If I had to characterize them, I would say the Ono was a bit tighter, quieter, and a little more analytical, the IO was more musical. The IO and the Ono are both excellent and I could live with either. One thing to consider is that the IO needs to have $500 worth of tubes replaced every so often whereas the Ono is solid state. If money is not an issue I would go with the IO but I have not heard the latest from Pass, the X Ono.
kleech
130 posts
 
A good tube phono stage with a step up is sonically the best way to go imho. Since you already have a decent phono stage built into your M3, I'd not let it go to waste by acquiring an outboard phono stage which might not even sound as good. I might consider switching over to the higher output version of the Ruby before doing that!

My Koetsu likes a 25-40 Ohm load at the step up so I would not be surprised if 40 Ohms is optimal for your Benz...you could confirm this with a dealer. The reason I mentioned this is that someone recommended an Ortofon transformer which work best with Ortofon cartridges and offer input impedance of 2-10 Ohms which might not be suitable for you.

I would check out the EAR MC-3. It offers 3 selectable input impedances including 40 Ohms. This lists for $995.

Ken

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