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SUT shootout

Over the past six weeks I have had the chance to finish a SUT "shootout". I thought I would post my impressions.

My system config for the shoot-out consisted of the following:

TT: Nottingham 294
Tonearm: SME 312S
Cartridge: Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum & Benz Ebony
Preamp: Shindo Masetto
Amp: Atma-sphere S30 and Tube Audio Lab 300B
Speaker: Hawthorne Trio (Biamped Open Baffle Speaker)

Music listened to covered multiple genres (rock, jazz, classical) in both 33 and 45 rpm formats. Because of the different turn ratios of the products I used a SPL meter and tried to listen with volume at roughly 80-85db.

My subjective ranking is as follows:

1. Hashimoto HM-7
2. Auditorium 23 "Hommage"
3. Hashimoto HM-3
4. Modified EAR-834P (Upgraded parts and tubes)
5. Sowter
6. MC from Shindo Masetto (Lundahl based transformer)
7. Cinemag
8. Altec (DIY)

The good news is that all of the above are extremely musical. There were no poor performers. I think most people would be happy with any of these products on their own. It was only in direct comparison where some of the differences became apparent.

The top three (Auditorium Hommage and both Hashimoto's) were a notch above the rest because they had both huge soundstages and the ability to dig deep into the music in regards to detail. The Hashmito HM-7 and Auditorium further distinquished themselves from the HM-3 by being more nuanced and textured. The Koetsu's warm tone came across better with these top 2. The tone using the HM-3 was more neutral in character. In comparing the HM-7 to the Hommage, I felt the HM-7 had a slightly better ability to separate instruments in complex musical arrangements and had a slightly lower noise floor.

The EAR and Sowter were very good at showcasing detail and texture but the soundstage was smaller than the top 3.

The internal SUT from the Shindo preamp had the most unique sound of the group and was the toughest to grade. It had the lowest noise floor and really shined in certain types of music (intimate vocals or small scale jazz/chamber music). However, the soundstage of the Masetto (Lundahl) was the smallest of all the products and when it came to larger scale music (symphonies especially) it had a harder time separating instruments.

The Cinemag and Altec were, not suprisingly, extremely similar considering their common heritage. The soundstage was larger than the Shindo, Sowter and EAR but smaller than the Hashimoto's and Hommage. Where I felt they came up a little short was in the area of musical detail. Of these two products, I placed the Cinemag higher because I thought it was slightly quieter.

It is interesting to note that the pricing of the products ranged from a low of approximately $350 (Cinemag based SUT) to a high of roughly $5000 (Hommage). My "winner" (HM-7) is priced at approx $1600 for a finished product.

Finally, I am aware that the performance of the products in question may differ substantially with other cartridges and systems so my ranking is a subjective opinion within the paramaters of my system, room and musical tastes. None-the-less, I had a fun time doing it.
sibelius

Showing 3 responses by dertonarm

dertonarm
1,042 posts
 
A shoot-out with 8 SUTs and two cartridges without any mention of the source impedance nor the primary of the SUTs ........ sorry folks, but a SUT and a given cartridge do have some technical interactions between (not only... ) the cartridges output and its source impedance and the primary impedance of the SUT and its corresponding step-up ratio.
You may have tried which SUT worked best with your two cartridges (most likely because its technical parameters were best suited to work with the source impedance of the cartridge), but this was not a shoot-out showing anything about the quality of any of the SUTs vs any other others.
dertonarm
1,042 posts
 
Sibelius: I am aware that this shoot-out's only purpose was to find out what actually would suit you best in your system. Which is perfectly fine. However - on some of the SUTs you've tested (Hashimoto, Lundahl, Swother), you can actually alter the primary to suit a given MCs source impedance best. So maybe you would have gotten more "precise" or "on target" results with your evaluation, if the SUTs (where possible...) had been aligned to similar primary/to a primary best suiting your carts source impedance. Right now the results may based on a given SUT's ideal matching by pure incidence. While another may have performed "worse" in the shoot-out, but would - if it's primary were connected different and thus altered to suit the MC better - actually outperform the other if aligned to the carts source impedance. A SUT and a MC do form a "team". There is never a certain SUT better than any other. There are ideal matches between a given SUT and a given cartridge which may result in a great performance. The inductance and impedance of the SUT and the LOMC do correspond which each other. I just want to encourage you to find the best SUT for your system by performing the shoot-out in a way which will give you the correct and optimized results.
dertonarm
1,042 posts
 
Dear Hiho, as for soundstage dimensions in reproduced music - I would recommend getting a first-hand impression of a reference.
Try to find a set-up which does give an illusion of real space, ease and the sense of naturalness in the reproduced "space". It should give you a feeling of being "right" - you should forget about the reproduction at all.
One always need to hear what is possible to find a reference enabling the student of the art to judge the performance of a certain set-up. If we do not know what is possible, we will always settle for the next best.
The last paragraph of Dougdeacon's post of 07-09-2010 gives a lot of truth and insight. If you are out in the wilderness to find, then it shows the path to follow.
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