Low Output MC Cartridge, USP-1, and SUT

I've long been a vinyl-phile since I was a kid (now 51). I've got a few thousand records, some are over 40 years old that I bought as a kid and still sound great!. I also run a linux based (vortex box distro) Squeezebox server with about 5,000 FLAC albums. Over 1.5 tb of files! I'm not a luddite, I just enjoy the sound and experience of vinyl.

I recently upgraded to a Dynavector DV-20x2 which has an output of only 0.3 mv. Previously, I had been using a medium output (0.9 mv) Benz Glider on my stock VPI scout turntable into an Emotiva USP-1.

After setup and taking time to assess the new cartridge, I started to wonder if I could improve things. My main assessment of the DV-20x2 into the USP-1 was that the sound was okay but maybe lacking in extension on both the low end and high end frequencies. I was especially concerned that I was not retrieving all the high end information I knew to be on the recordings I was very familiar with.

After further research, I decided to try a SUT (Step Up Transformer) and chose the $395 Cinemag 3440A model from Bob's Devices. I consulted by email with Bob about my exact setup and which of his devices would be recommended. A quick PayPal transaction ensued and less than a week later I had this little magic box in my hands.

Paying close attention to cable layout using my own custom cables (Gotham GAC-4/1)with the shield attached only at the source end only (as recommended by Bob) resulted in a very quiet installation with no evident hum whatsoever. Only a small amount of hiss is evident but inevitable when dealing with such minuscule voltages. In case it is not obvious, the purpose of the SUT is to magnify the gain from the cartridge to a sufficient level to drive the moving magnet stage of a preamp. The SUT I bought features a 10x and 16x option and it was recommended I use the 10x selection.

The positive change the SUT brought to my vinyl playback chain was very dramatic to say the least. All reservations I had before were erased and my records now had the frequency extension and dynamic impact I longed for and expected. Some may say that spending an additional $400 for a device attached to a $400 preamp is a lopsided expenditure. All I can say is my vinyl now sounds exceptional and I can't stop listening.

You can read all about Bob's Devices here.

Also, there was a good write-up not too long ago in Stereophile.

One other advantage for using a SUT is that the MM specification seems to be more standardized which I think my contribute to the quality of what I am hearing. I gather MC stages are less standardized and thus more susceptible to sound variations like I experienced. I surmise that when dealing with such low voltages, that cartridge loading (100 ohm, 1k ohm, 47k ohm) becomes ever more critical.

So, for those of you that continue to explore the vinyl world and have ventured into using low output MC cartridges, you may want to add a SUT device like Bob's Devices to your toolbox.

Vinyl LP day today

Started out very early today to attend the annual Stone Ridge School Book Sale. A bit of a misnomer as they sell records, cds, dvds and other collectibles in addition to records. In past years, I've scored some choice vinyl items. Prices are absurdly reasonable at one dollar a record. This year I got there at shortly after the opening time of 8 am. Pretty early for me these days. I would say the selection was about average. I picked up about 30 records that I've already set about cleaning with my VPI record cleaning machine.

This got me back into the mood of spinning some vinyl. I have a very modest Music Hall MMF 2 turntable hooked up to my upstairs computer/music studio system. I had been annoyed by some apparent background hum that I always thought was leakage of the magnetic motor field into the cartridge. Well, I really got into it today and discovered that in fact the turntable belt was not riding the crown of the motor pulley but riding up to the top of the pulley. I went about for a way to to correct this. The turntable is serviceable but a bit kludgey. The motor is suspended on a rubber band of sorts with four screw mounts. I determined that I need to pull the front of the motor back under some tension so that it would not lean forward. The solution was absurdly simple. One simple rubber band wrapped under the front of the motor and secured on the two rear screw mounts and I had enough tension to allow the belt to ride correctly on the crown of the pulley. Instant silence and sonic bliss. I wish I could have figured this out a long time ago. Now I am stoked to transfer some more vinyl to CD with improved sonics.

Okay, vinyl tweaking continues today. A couple of late nights later I've come to some conclusions:

1. The combination of the MO (.9mv) Glider and the high gain (60db) setting of the Lehman Black Cube does overload my MAP-1 preamp.

2. I installed and tested the 50db setting of my VAC-in-the-Box and detected no distortion. This is good news since I was trying to figure out if I had some tracking issues with the Glider setup. This eliminates the mechanical part of the equation.

3. While the VAC-in-the-Box is a reasonable phono preamp, it is not the equal of the Lehman Black Cube. After much auditioning of some reference discs I determined that I would rather use the Black Cube with the 40db setting and just crank up the volume on my MAP-1. In reality, the Black Cube is so quiet that the perceived noise level with the 40db setting and higher preamp volume level is only a smidgen higher. This is an acceptable compromise given the other strengths of the Black Cube.

4. I was being too reticent with the volume control and the 40db setting. I now have an idea of what is the optimum spl and volume setting it needs with this combination.

So, I've come full circle and have learned quite a bit about my vinyl rig I didn't know before. I think I can live with the current setup but I am thinking about a possible purchase of the Monolithic PS-1 phono preamp. This purchase would improve the perceived signal to noise ratio because of the 53db setting of the preamp. This should be a near perfect match to my Glider MO. All the reviews seem to point to this being a better phono preamp than the Black Cube.