My prior turntable/cart combo was a VPI Classic 3 and Lyra Kleos....
The phono was the phono section of my Convergent Audio Tech SL1 Renaissance w/ Phono...
In comparison with other tables I listened to and my digital rig, I noted
a laid back darkish presentation......I did the VPI 3D Arm and that put a soft
edge on the presentation.....
So I scrapped everything but the cartridge and got a Merrill Williams REAL101.2
and an Ortofon TA210 arm with an Arche' adjustable headshell.
With the Kleos installed, the noise floor was lower, but the character was the same.....
I sold the Kleos and got an Ortofon Cadenza Black and that improved the presentation
tremendously, but overall the presentation was still laid back compared to what I
wanted.
Upon my dealer's advice, I went beyond the various Bob's Devices transformers
and went with a Hashimoto based transformer. The most recommended ones
are from Choir Audio, but after 5 attempts and no callback from that guy,
I went to find other options. I found out that the U.S. importer for Hashimoto
produced SUT's as well for about the same cost. I went with the HM7 instead
of the HM3 based on his advice. I disabled the internet SUTs in my preamp
and hooked everything up and the most noticeable thing was the increase
in gain.....it was dramatic.....the second thing I noticed was increase in
detail and increase in the air between instruments etc. I will say that neither
the SUT nor the cartridge have more than a handful of hours on them as of
now, but knowing what I have learned up to this point, I will say that my
analog rig is fairly well where I want to be for a while........it obliterates
the previous but I will say that I may have experienced similar results
going to the Ortofon and Hashimoto HM7 on the Classic 3. There is
no question that the Merrill Williams is a much better turntable though....
BTW: The Hashimoto SUT I bought was from a company called Sound Tradition
www.sound-tradition.com
