Help me understand MC Cart STU's

Mr D.

Mr D.

Member
My current system is a Sansui AU-G99X Intergrated Amplifier that has both MC & MM selections for my Cart, my turntable is a Denon DP-62L with a Denon D-103 MC Cart that works great with this system.

I have the itch for some McIntosh gear but my budget has me seeking out vintage vice new retail and while I have found a few pre-amplifiers that fit my need for the number of components I want to connect I seem to keep hitting the wall on the phono input being for a MM Cart only. I started researching MC Cart step up transformers (STU) and the prices seem to be all over the place and anything vintage Denon seems to be $300-$500 and other stuff is all over the place.

I climbed out of that rabbit hole and am coming here to figure out what I really need to make my turntable MC Cart work with a pre-amplifier MM input or just get smarter on all this. Didn't realized I would need to take out a loan for a STU. HAHA

Denon DL-103 Specs
Type MC
Output Voltage 0.3mV
Frequency Range 20Hz - 45kHz
Output Impedance 40 ohms

Thanks
D
 
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you'll need some sort of step up trans to use the Denon cart with the MAC pre that has MM only input. 300-500 is pretty common price range for step ups. And you are only at the bottom end of the price range. Ypsilon makes step ups that range from 7k to 19k.

You may be able to find a cheaper step up but will likely be bandwidth limited. An example would be one of the Chinese made units. About 189.00 bucks.

www.ebay.com

Mini 1:20 MC Step-Up Transformer Moving Coil Phono Preamp Turntable Amplifier | eBay

Its shell is built with a hollowed whole aluminium plate with wire drawing, oxidation and laser engraving treatment on the surface. Nobsound patent 1:20 Step-up transformer.
www.ebay.com
 
Mr D. said:
I have the itch for some McIntosh gear ... vintage ... I really need to make my turntable MC Cart work with a pre-amplifier MM input or just get smarter on all this...
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Welcome new member!
Yes, you will need additional amplification if you want to use a LOMC with a MM input. I use a Hagerman Piccolo headlamp; SUT should also work well. I have little experience with SUTs & will leave this discussion to others. SUTs are a bit esoteric and are not required for your project, but will certainly work.

Please note you can use a separate MM/MC phono preamp & plug it into another line input (e.g., AUX). This could be your best option; you get your MC amp, plus a new/better? MM amp. LOT of options out there. I have been looking at $300 Parasound Zphono XRM or $600 Darlington Labs MP7B; should be a $200 used option out there if you have a tighter budget.
 
If you plan on keeping your 99X, you could keep your turntable on the Sansui's MC setting take the signal out of the tape monitor and run that to the Macintosh.
 
It's amazing how good the low cost Denon and Audio Technica SUT's (300-500$) are...

They easily out perform most phono stages and cartridges, So they are not a critical choke point for sound.
 
A Denon SUT with your 103 would be a great match. I bet the cheap Chinese eBay units would work great as well.

Quite frankly the expensive “high end” SUTs are a bit ridiculous. They are not better quality, they just have certain qualities some people want (fancy wire, hand rolled, etc). If you have the dough for a $5k SUT, great, knock yourself out, but the Audionote SUTs I have heard sound almost identical to the $100 used Audio Innovations SUT I have (both companies were started by Peter Qvortrup, so not that surprising).

All this is just IMHO of course - I am sure folks will be turning up here telling me how ignorant I am soon.

But rest assured a decent SUT that is within parameters with your cartridge (pretty difficult to find that doesn’t match, in practice, actually!) will give you quiet and dynamic sound when run into a good phonostage.
 
I see a number of Denon AU-320 on eBay for $250-$500 all coming from Japan, I'm assuming the Rothwell MCL is a good match as well and goes for $585 Eu.

I agree with Doctor Fuse, I'm not looking to refinance my house for this gadget so I'm ok with spending $500.
 
Mr D. said:
I see a number of Denon AU-320 on eBay for $250-$500 all coming from Japan, I'm assuming the Rothwell MCL is a good match as well and goes for $585 Eu.

I agree with Doctor Fuse, I'm not looking to refinance my house for this gadget so I'm ok with spending $500.
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Get the Rothwell and let us know how you like it. He is here on AK so if you have any issues it will be easy to get them sorted (unlike a 50 year old used Denon SUT).
 
I vote for a decent, well reviewed standalone phono pre that supports mm and mc. I bought a used Moon LP3 years ago, and it sounds better than the built-in mm/mc of my Marantz PM17 , and better than the Audio-Technica Signet mc transformer (which sounds pretty good with A-T mc carts). You could buy an sut now, but what if you don’t like the sound through the new Mac system? Your only option then will be a standalone mm/mc pre. The Sciit Mani2 is a good starting point: highly reviewed, supports mm and mc, and decent price.
 
flatwound said:
I vote for a decent, well reviewed standalone phono pre that supports mm and mc. I bought a used Moon LP3 years ago, and it sounds better than the built-in mm/mc of my Marantz PM17 , and better than the Audio-Technica Signet mc transformer (which sounds pretty good with A-T mc carts). You could buy an sut now, but what if you don’t like the sound through the new Mac system? Your only option then will be a standalone mm/mc pre. The Sciit Mani2 is a good starting point: highly reviewed, supports mm and mc, and decent price.
Click to expand...
Simaudio Moon LP 5.3?
 
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