Koetsu Urushi + MC step up transformer

I don't like SUT with fine MC cartridges because they defeat the great transient response for which MC cartridges are known. The reason they even exist is that back in the day, most if not all MC cartridges were really low output (around 0.25mV) and hi-gain lo-noise phono preamps not available yet. (BTW, the Urushi has a fairly healthy output for a MC cartridge at 0.6mV)

I would suggest that if your CJ is almost enough to amplify the Urushi all by itself, then before you do anything else, get it loaded properly for the Urushi. The Urushi has an output impedance of 5 ohms. So using the 'ballpark' 25x rule, the correct loading for it should be 125ohms (probably a bit lower as Sam indicated) but not 47K! Correct loading will not only increase the perceived volume, but you will get detail and bass you haven't heard yet. If the 40dB gain of the built-in CJ phonostage really isn't enough, then I would recommend one of the many fine headamps (Creek makes a nice one) which these days are a better alternative to a SUT IMO.

spider, the values one uses to match a MC cart to a SUT have nothing to do with the load resistance you would use if connecting the cartridge to a phono preamp or headamp. You need to do a search on vinyl asylum or here on Agon to get pointed in the right direction. BTW, the SUT's themselves can come in two or three ranges which work best with certain cartridges. Wish I could be more help ;-)

Lew, probably what I should have said was that it takes different value resistors (across the transformer taps) to achieve the same load conditions for the cartridge as if it was simply driving a phono preamp. So your explanation of how to load the SUT seems perfectly logical to me, but then I've never tried to do it, so I have no credibility whatsoever ;-)
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