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Denon SUT or Micro Seiki head-amp?

Hello there. I recently bought the famous Denon DL-304. I connected it to my Project Tube Box II, and immediately noticed that something was quite lacking. I did some research and only then learned about this cartridge being extremely low-output, and the need to somehow boost up its sound. Right now, the options I have here in Argentina are reduced to:
1) Denon AU-320 step up transformer.
2) Micro Seiki MTA-41 head-amplifier.
The Denon could seem like an obvious option, since it matches the cartridge impedance exactly (40 ohms). But then some say it could veil the extraordinary level of detail of the DL-304, and I wouldn't want that at all. The Micro Seiki, on the other side, is a mystery: there's practically no info about it on the internet. I only got to know that technically it would fit the DL-304: it is good for cartridges between 1 and 50 ohms of impedance and from 0.1mV (DL304's being 0.18). The specs here: http://www.micro-seiki.nl/Accessory.html
Can anyone help me decide here? Thanks for any advice!
fedocable
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Fedocable- Your welcome. I suggested the head-amp because in a highly resolving system, I have preferred a high gain active phono stage vs. a xformer. I have very little technical expertise in this area, but I am told that one of the reasons is that xformers can "ring". Also, load matching is critical; I have heard differences in sound between only a couple of ohms in a xformer that has the the ability to swap in different values. I don't think (but really don't know) if that is an issue w the head-amp. Finally, the "step up" effect of the xformer also "steps up" any artifacts from the cable that is upstream of it. The 30 dB gain of the Micro seki is more than adequate and should allow you to run it into the MM side of the project (30 + 40 = 70 dB), which would tend to lower tube noise (if any). It's battery operated so no AC noise issues and has outstanding S/N spec (-120 dB). All that being said, a properly matched xformer can give very good results.
fedocable OP
12 posts
 
Yes: the head-amp seems riskier, but could also give better results. But keep in mind that -on the papers- Denon's cart and SUT are made for each other: the SUT can be set to 40ohms, which is supposed to be the internal impedance of the cart. And the SUT would go too into the MM input of the preamp, lowering tube noise. But despite all that the Micro keeps attracting me -the attraction of unknown, I guess.
fedocable OP
12 posts
 
Swampwalker, you are absolutely right: the Denon SUT has only 20dB of gain. That would make only 60dB when connected to the Project in MM mode (40dB). Not enough! Suddenly the SUT is no longer the safer choice, apparently! What do you think?
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Well, you know that 60 dB of gain is not enough, so you'd have to use the MC input which would give you 80 dB, which might very well be too much, depending on how much gain your line stage and amp supplies, room size, etc. If that were the case, you'd end up operating at the extreme low end of the line stage's attenuator, which generally is not a good thing in terms of channel matching. It also would create a big problem if your line stage uses a stepped attenuator and or has a logarithmic attenuation curve.
fedocable OP
12 posts
 
Oh, to be honest I have absolutely no idea about those technical details... My amp is a Puccini Settanta (70W), that's all I can tell you. And my set is in a fairly small room. But as far as I understand, I like the idea of using the MM input: it would mean less tube noise -and there is some...
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