Hello!
This post is about the new TX103 Silver wound Moving Coil Cartridge steup transformer. It's used between low output MC carts and a phono stage to step up the signal level.
Just like when we introducted the silver TX102's lots of folks are interested in how the silver TX103's compare to copper TX103's. I have not had much time with them but did get the chance to play them in my system a bit and in a local friends system last night (Thanks Neville!). Normally I'd want a wider sample of systems before posting impressions but the 2 systems did share a similar result so I thought I'd get started posting about them.
This post, for the most part, does not answer the big question - "Which one should I get?". I wish I could give a clear answer but at least now there isn't one. When we compared the TX102 silvers I was a bit relieved by the differences as they did not have that 'silver sound' that some folks attribute to silver.
Unlike the TX102's The TX103's seem to closely follow what you'd expect from silver. They are not bright but in a system that had a tendency toward brightness I suspect they could put it over the top. The highs especially the shimmer of a drum brush on a cymbal is 'gives me the shivers' good. Much better then the copper without a doubt. The clarity and attack on guitar and strings is also really really great. But - unfortunately there is a But....
The silver's had a bit of bite on sax that was not there on the coppers. This may be just passing the truth on through or it could be a break-in issue. Silver wire is notorious for long break-in requirements and these are quite fresh (as were the coppers). The Silvers are also a bit ligther sounding and they lack some body that the coppers have. This came as a surprise as the experience with the TX102 silvers was not this way at all. Go figure... This was apparent in both my system and in Nevilles system. We both came to the same conclusion - If you were to ballance the system to fit the TX103 silver it would be spooky good. If you are a fan of silver and want to give it a go I'll have some around. The clarity and attack is amazing and adictive but could be too much for some systems. I may even send one on tour for those interested (but I'd have to raise the price a bit to cover the tour cost....). For most systems and most folks I am going to recomend the copper. It's more likely to drop it in your system and just enjoy. It's hard to go wrong with it and it's less money as well!
I'll get the silvers out and about to get more feedback and also play with it in other systems and play with loading to build more of a database of info on how they sound.
Please post any questions or comments.
Thanks!
John Chapman
www.bentaudio.com
