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Denon SUT or Micro Seiki head-amp?

Hello there. I recently bought the famous Denon DL-304. I connected it to my Project Tube Box II, and immediately noticed that something was quite lacking. I did some research and only then learned about this cartridge being extremely low-output, and the need to somehow boost up its sound. Right now, the options I have here in Argentina are reduced to:
1) Denon AU-320 step up transformer.
2) Micro Seiki MTA-41 head-amplifier.
The Denon could seem like an obvious option, since it matches the cartridge impedance exactly (40 ohms). But then some say it could veil the extraordinary level of detail of the DL-304, and I wouldn't want that at all. The Micro Seiki, on the other side, is a mystery: there's practically no info about it on the internet. I only got to know that technically it would fit the DL-304: it is good for cartridges between 1 and 50 ohms of impedance and from 0.1mV (DL304's being 0.18). The specs here: http://www.micro-seiki.nl/Accessory.html
Can anyone help me decide here? Thanks for any advice!
fedocable
fedocable OP
12 posts
 
Good advice. Although there are not many models available in Argentina right now -and we cannot buy electronics from abroad, believe it or not. There's a Clearaudio dealer... maybe some mid-range Clearaudio pre + Denon au-320? That may work better than keeping my Project, perhaps...
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
The Micro-seiki "head amp" IS an active gain stage, which if it does not result in noise, can often provide better results than an SUT which can result in ringing and will "magnify" any cable or loading mismatches.
fedocable OP
12 posts
 
Oh. I have no experience whatsoever with any of these pre-pre gadgets, but from what I read, the SUT au-320 should match almost exactly the cartridge impedance. That's why I assumed it was a safer choice. I didn't know about other risks (ringing or cable mismatches)...
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
agree with Swampwalker, but still believe that having one-piece high gain stage is more beneficial than two-pieces and even more financially efficient in some cases. I also don't believe that going super-low out cartridge with all SUTs and highest-gain possible stages would stand next to cartridge with sufficient output for single-piece phonostage or phono-board. Denon cartridge + Denon SUT looks to me that there's better cartridge for the money with sufficient output.
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Fedocable- Marakanetz MAY be correct but if there are import limitations it might not be possible to find a sufficiently high gain full function pre-amp or phono stage. Using the KAB gain calculator, a cart w 0.2 mV output requires about 64 dB of gain. The Pro-ject Tube Box II provides 60 dB of gain. Pretty much any active pre-amp will provide the additional 5-10 dB gain from the line stage, so inadequate gain may not be the problem. I'm assuming you have switched the selector on the back of the Tube Box to MC and are running the output of the Tube Box into a line level input of a pre-amp.
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