Ed, you wrote:
"It seems that any "transformer type" step up would introduce hum problems (to varying degrees), and offered little or no adjustability or versatility."
My BentAudio Mu's have no hum problems that I can detect. (If you meant a tranny might induce hum in the Grado, I can't speak to that possibility except to repeat what we all know about Grado's susceptibility to stray EM fields, and to mention that the Mu's are pretty heavily shielded.)
The Mu's offer infinite adjustability of cartridge loading by means of externally mounted resistor terminals. I can swap in any value resistor I want in about 3 seconds. (I'll admit they offer no gain adjustability without major surgery, so if that's what you meant I agree. OTOH with Colitas' existing phono stage a 20db stepup would let him use any cartridge with .5mv output, which is a lot of cartridge choices.)
The "adding another component and cable" argument is only partly valid. If you need additional gain you're going to have to add *some* additional componentry and wire. Whether those components and wires are internal or external to the phono stage chassis is not hugely relevant (IMO of course).
What is relevant is what kind of additional component you use to achieve the additional gain. IMO, a tranny can be the ideal solution, because it can actually help a cartridge work better. A phono stage is a voltage driven device. Unfortunately, a cartridge is not particularly good at providing voltage, as we all know. It can however, provide a respectable amount of current. Why not insert a device that transforms this readily available current, which a gain stage cannot use, into the higher voltage that it CAN use? With readily available load adjustment, the cartridge can be optimized to run at its precise sweet spot.
I quite agree about the cart and horse thing. Don't buy a component until you're prepared to provide whatever it needs to integrate into your system. It appears Colitas is ready to do that, and in his case I think a 20db stepup could be a viable solution.
"It seems that any "transformer type" step up would introduce hum problems (to varying degrees), and offered little or no adjustability or versatility."
My BentAudio Mu's have no hum problems that I can detect. (If you meant a tranny might induce hum in the Grado, I can't speak to that possibility except to repeat what we all know about Grado's susceptibility to stray EM fields, and to mention that the Mu's are pretty heavily shielded.)
The Mu's offer infinite adjustability of cartridge loading by means of externally mounted resistor terminals. I can swap in any value resistor I want in about 3 seconds. (I'll admit they offer no gain adjustability without major surgery, so if that's what you meant I agree. OTOH with Colitas' existing phono stage a 20db stepup would let him use any cartridge with .5mv output, which is a lot of cartridge choices.)
The "adding another component and cable" argument is only partly valid. If you need additional gain you're going to have to add *some* additional componentry and wire. Whether those components and wires are internal or external to the phono stage chassis is not hugely relevant (IMO of course).
What is relevant is what kind of additional component you use to achieve the additional gain. IMO, a tranny can be the ideal solution, because it can actually help a cartridge work better. A phono stage is a voltage driven device. Unfortunately, a cartridge is not particularly good at providing voltage, as we all know. It can however, provide a respectable amount of current. Why not insert a device that transforms this readily available current, which a gain stage cannot use, into the higher voltage that it CAN use? With readily available load adjustment, the cartridge can be optimized to run at its precise sweet spot.
I quite agree about the cart and horse thing. Don't buy a component until you're prepared to provide whatever it needs to integrate into your system. It appears Colitas is ready to do that, and in his case I think a 20db stepup could be a viable solution.