One of the nice things about SUT's is that they are passive devices and hardly subject to aging under normal use. And the 'technology' hasn't changed much, if at all. This means you can buy used without hardly any risk at all.
There are two 'big' choices you have to make:
- copper or silver wire for the transformers. Silver is obviously more expensive, but not necessarily better (very dependent on the cartridge)
- a dedicated unit for a specific impedance range or one with a selector switch to accomodate a wider variety of cartridges (usually choice between low impedance (typically 3-6 ohm) and high impedance (20-30). People usually prefer dedicated units, because the selectability involves extra switching.
There are many great ones out there, but a good choice for copper wired SUT is Entré ET-200 for 2-10 ohms (3,5 ohms ideal) and 30dB gain, designed by Matsudaira of My Sonic Lab. This is not a rare unit and regularly for sale around $600-700. The current My Sonic Lab SUT will not be much different except for the price.
A good choice for silver wired SUT is the Ortofon series for their '000' series MC's, the T-2000, 3000, 5000 and 7500. They all have the same specs (impedance range 3-6 ohms, 30dB gain), except T-2000 which has even higher gain to accomodate the ultra low output MC-2000. These nits can be found between $1000-1500 and are definitely worth it when compared to the 'adventurous' pricing of silver wired SUT's made today.
There are two 'big' choices you have to make:
- copper or silver wire for the transformers. Silver is obviously more expensive, but not necessarily better (very dependent on the cartridge)
- a dedicated unit for a specific impedance range or one with a selector switch to accomodate a wider variety of cartridges (usually choice between low impedance (typically 3-6 ohm) and high impedance (20-30). People usually prefer dedicated units, because the selectability involves extra switching.
There are many great ones out there, but a good choice for copper wired SUT is Entré ET-200 for 2-10 ohms (3,5 ohms ideal) and 30dB gain, designed by Matsudaira of My Sonic Lab. This is not a rare unit and regularly for sale around $600-700. The current My Sonic Lab SUT will not be much different except for the price.
A good choice for silver wired SUT is the Ortofon series for their '000' series MC's, the T-2000, 3000, 5000 and 7500. They all have the same specs (impedance range 3-6 ohms, 30dB gain), except T-2000 which has even higher gain to accomodate the ultra low output MC-2000. These nits can be found between $1000-1500 and are definitely worth it when compared to the 'adventurous' pricing of silver wired SUT's made today.