Rothwell MC1

[Ammonite Audio]

+1

Building SUTs is one easy DIY job. No Power rails to worry about, just clean joints and good earthing are required, that's all.

The most important thing though is the loading you will present to your cartridge. It has tremendous effect on the sound quality.

The loading resistance calculations are simple, and plenty of learned material is available here and on other forums...

I built mine around a pair of Stevens and Billington TX1003 for less than £200 all parts included.

Interesting - have you compared those TX1003s to anything else? I quite fancy having a go at a DIY SUT myself, and would be interested to hear from anyone who has tried the transformers from Sowter or HiFi Collective, both of which are well-priced.

[NRG]

I dont think you'll go wrong with any of them TBH given a wide flat bandwidth. The Sowters are very well made from a company with a very good track record ('scuse the pun!). The loading is key as I found out during recent experiments, probably more so than the actual SUT, load the primary for the cartridge and then load the secondary to dampen the SUT...

[Frankyc2003]

Not heard Sowter or the ones from HIFI collective, just compared them with Lundhal at much higher price. And IMHO, the S&B were way better.

[Slawts]

Thanks for the info Steve.

You're basically saying the Rothwell isn't as good as the Stepnote? I did have a Stepnote some years ago, used with a Lyra Dorian and it sounded very good indeed, I just couldn't get the hum down to a level I was 100% happy with (ie get it to disappear).

Only downside is that Deco Audio don't sell the Stepnote any more - or it's certainly not on their website now, nor has it been for a while. Deco also have a reasonably wide selection of SUT's including the Puresound T10 - now in Mk2 form. I did have a play with a Mk1 T10 but it wasn't really that special - I preferred the S'note. I do hear that the Mk2 is a decent improvement though, and it has adjustable loading.

Hi,

The Rothwell , I have is better than the Stepnote. There's more detail, bass and hyper reality but then it should be. It's over twice the price!

[Gromit]

Hi,

The Rothwell , I have is better than the Stepnote. There's more detail, bass and hyper reality but then it should be. It's over twice the price!

Thanks Steve - think I mis-read your previous post.

I see the Rothwell MCL uses the Lundahl transformers which do appear to be very highly regarded. Saying that, I'm delighted with what this Mayware is doing - it's crisp, fast, brimming with detail, sheer listenability & colour. It's also proved what a fantastic MM stage the Sony amp has.