[Ivan303]

I am sure this has been covered before, but has anyone done a side by side comparison of the S & B step up (Bent Audio) and the Lundahl kit sold by K&K?  

Specifically in the Cornet?

I heard the Cornet at VSAC in Waynes room and, with the Bent Audio S&B step-up and Teres best TT, I was BLOWN AWAY!

Gotta have one of all that stuff!  Tiangius was there, he is my witness, good stuff!  

Do wonder how the Lundahl's would stack up.

[Marbles]

I think Wayne said that the Lundahls were about 95% of the S&B's.  It's that last 5% that's so expensive  

After VSAC, Wayne did some improvements to that Cornet to make it even nicer      

[Wayne1]

I own the Lundahl step-ups.

When I had the Trumpet here, before VSAC, I used both the Lundahl step up and the step up made by Mr. Hagerman using the S&B transformers.

To my ears, the S&B was quite a bit better.

The S&B is also quite a bit more expensive, but I really do feel it is worth it.

After VSAC, I built a pair of S&Bs into that Cornet I was using there. I also installed a pair of Bybees and rewired it with NITRO wire internally. That Cornet does belong to Marbles. I believe he is now using the smae Tungsram 12AX7s you brought by. He also changed out the 12AU7 for a NOS 5814 and has a NOS CHY 5Y3GTA for a rectifier.

[amandarae]

“The Lundahl is 95% of the S&B….”      

Huh?   How does somebody figure this out?
I have the Lundahl being use in my Teres as well.  I admit that I considered the S&B from Bent but cannot convince myself the extra cost.  

Let’s see:
The Lundahl kit, with the Vampire connectors as well is $225 where as the S&B from Bent is $615.   For a 5% difference in performance, that is $78 per 1% of improvement.  Assuming that I have the Cornet, if I re-tube it with what others consider as the “must” tube for such application, then I upgrade the C7, C6, and C8 caps with premium parts, perform the CCS mods, etc.  Will the difference of 5% increases or decreases?  If I change my cart to let say a Koetsu or Clearaudio from a Denon 103, will it still be 5%?  For $390 difference, I can buy a decent to very good IC and have some more cash left.

Yes, with the Bent, you can change the R loading on a whim because of the additional binding post.  But it can be done easily with the Lundahl kit as well.  For the IC to connect the step-up to the preamp, I’ll get some 30 ga. pure Silver wire from Hoover and Strong and make a VH design interconnect, the cost would only be minimal.

I have my $615 ready, to get the S&B but still cannot decide if it is really worth it.  I wish I can find someone who directly compared the two, all other components being equal.  I am a little bit confuse because if you post the same comparison at AA (K&K forum to be exact), a person who owns both will tell you that they are the same sonic wise.

Please, I am not looking for an argument here.   I just want to have a concrete understanding of which one offers a better value in the long run, that's all.

[tianguis]

Ivan, Wayne, Marbles:
      I agree with everybody! However, one large consideration is the rest of the equipment one is using. Certain components interact with others to create a synergy which absolutely clouds discussion of individual bits.
      Yes, at VSAC I heard the S & B's, both in Bent and Hagerman versions. They both were wonderful.  Having lived with the Lundahls feeding my Cornet for many moons before, I didn't think I'd missed the boat by going with step-ups which cost me $107 delivered. I still don't, although I haven't A/B'd them in my system.
       I've found that building a new turntable has yielded far greater results than any improvement I could have gained with the S & B's.  In a word or three: source, source, source.

Regards,
Larry Welsh