SUT Advice, Ortofon ST-7 or Rothwell MC?

[Marco]

Nice one... Was it Nathan 'nuff'? I recommended a Headspace to him recently.

The 'slam' aspect is important to me, as it gives music a 'lifelike' quality and vibrancy, which makes it sound believable and real. That's where, to my ears, good head amps outperform most SUTs, which tend to sound 'sweeter', by majoring more on tone and timbre.

Not that those aspects of the sound aren't important [they are], but in my experience, good head amps can do the 'tone and timbre' thing too, almost as good as the best SUTs, but ace them on 'slam'.

Much will depend, in terms of your priorities, on what music you mostly listen to, as both devices will bring out the best in some types of music more than others. It's nice that you offer a choice!

I can't think of anyone else who does...

Marco.

[RothwellAudio]

Yes Marco, it was Nathan 'nuff' - thanks for the recommendation.
And yes, I agree with your transformer/headamp comparison. Sounds broadly in line which my experience too.

[nuff]

I started reading this thread a few days ago but due to me having work done around the house I've found it difficult to sit and have a proper listen to my new Rothwell Headspace.

I can recommend the headspace to anyone thinking of trying 1.

I'm not good at putting down on paper what I hear to be honest but I can say that it's a very very good and as I said to Andrew via PM, it seem like the voices are being thrown straight at me. I've also noticed the guitars sounding much more richer, Bass seems much better too.
I was selling my KEL84 due to the lack of bass it was producing but after a few nights listening I've decided to remove it from sale because of this. It all seems to be working very well together.

Great work Andrew and thanks for the recommendation Marco

I'm using the following setup at the moment....

Edingdales
Nottingham Analogue interspace.
Jelco 10" SA 750 D, heavy counterweight with a Yamamoto HS-1A and brass headshell weight. (29.5g) with cart.
Denon DL103C1 paratrace re-tip
WAD KEL84
Firebottle phono plus
Rothwell headspace
Mark Grant G1000HD

Hope this helps answer a few questions for the OP

[montesquieu]

I started reading this thread a few days ago but due to me having work done around the house I've found it difficult to sit and have a proper listen to my new Rothwell Headspace.

I can recommend the headspace to anyone thinking of trying 1.

I'm not good at putting down on paper what I hear to be honest but I can say that it's a very very good and as I said to Andrew via PM, it seem like the voices are being thrown straight at me. I've also noticed the guitars sounding much more richer, Bass seems much better too.
I was selling my KEL84 due to the lack of bass it was producing but after a few nights listening I've decided to remove it from sale because of this. It all seems to be working very well together.

Great work Andrew and thanks for the recommendation Marco

I'm using the following setup at the moment....

Nottingham Analogue interspace.
Jelco 10" SA 750 D
Denon DL103C1 paratrace re-tip
WAD KEL84
Firebottle phono plus
Rothwell headspace
Mark Grant G1000HD

Hope this helps answer a few questions for the OP

Edlingdales tend to be pretty sensitive (I'm not up with the various models) but I suspect you need slightly more current than the KEL84 can produce to really get well controlled, low bass out of them. Overall should sound pretty nice though. I would make sure you use a nice heavy headshell with the Denon (and matching heavy counterweight on the Jelco) to make sure it has enough mass to really get the best out of it.

[Marco]

Glad it worked out well, Nathan, and you're welcome... I'm always a little nervous giving such recommendations, and in effect spending other people's hard-earned money!

However, I thought that I was sufficiently familiar with the components in your system (and had enough faith in the quality of Andrew's gear) to recommend the Headspace for your system, and be confident of its efficacy.

TBH, more folks with valve MM phono stages should go the head amp/SUT route, as it almost always sounds better than using a standalone MC stage

Enjoy the music!

Marco.

P.S A picture of the Headspace in situ would be good.

[nuff]

Edlingdales tend to be pretty sensitive (I'm not up with the various models) but I suspect you need slightly more current than the KEL84 can produce to really get well controlled, low bass out of them. Overall should sound pretty nice though. I would make sure you use a nice heavy headshell with the Denon (and matching heavy counterweight on the Jelco) to make sure it has enough mass to really get the best out of it.

I've just updated my post to say that Tom. My headshell and cart weigh in at 29.5g. I've tried without the brass spacer but it sounded a little thin.
Edingdales I believe are 94db

[montesquieu]

I've just updated my post to say that Tom. My headshell and cart weigh in at 29.5g. I've tried without the brass spacer but it sounded a little thin.
Edingdales I believe are 94db

fab ... definitely worth the effort.