DENON HA 500, just a photo gallery

[Flyfisher]

Can some one please explain how to find out which mc cartridges would be a good match to the three different inputs 4/15/40ohm inputs on the back of the much maligned The Head TX4 moving coil transformer.

[Marco]

Hi 'Flyfisher',

Welcome to AOS!

Before you go any further could you please pop into the Welcome area and introduce yourself to our community by supplying your first name, basic geographical location, system details and music tastes, as this is a requirement for all new members joining AOS.

Cheers!

Marco.

[Thermionic]

Just briefly going back to the HA500.

I bought mine when it was new back in the early 80’s, costly yes but I don’t think it was super expensive. Bought to replace a home built head amp the figure of around £100 sticks in the mind, which I think in those days, was about the price of a budget integrated amplifier.

I still use it from time to time.

[Colin151]

Can some one please explain how to find out which mc cartridges would be a good match to the three different inputs 4/15/40ohm inputs on the back of the much maligned The Head TX4 moving coil transformer.

Hi there, I have a TX4 transformer. I am pretty sure these different inputs just access different windings on the secondary of the transformers. And I am 95% sure the 40 ohm one is 1:10 step up ratio and the 4 ohm input gives 1:20 step up ratio. Not sure exactly about the 15 ohm one but I would guess 1:15 possibly, or maybe 1:13. I have worked this out based on their gain using a low impedance cartridge (Linn Troika, 3 ohms) and comparing to the gain of other known step ups I have.

There are no hard an fast rules, but the particular input you should use depends on two things, - how it sounds in general and the output level of your cartridge.
The loading into a 47K MM stage for these inputs is:
1:10 ratio 470 ohms
1:15 ratio about 210 ohms
1:20 ratio 117 ohms

Obviously a cartridge like the Troika which has 0.2mV output would be best (in terms of optimising the gain level) put into the 1:20 ratio input to bring the MM input level up to 4mV. BUT I prefer the way it sounds on the 1:10 ratio input with the higher loading,- more airy/more treble extension despite less output.

If you had a MC cartridge with higher output than the Troika, - say one of the Ortofons with 0.5mV output you would be unwise to use anything but the 1:10 step up ratio input anyway, as the other two might overload the MM stage (partularly if its a solid state MM stage). If you wanted to lower the loading you could use parallel resistors in betweeten the TX4 and the MM phono stage.

Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Colin

[Marco]

Hi Colin,

Welcome to AOS

Great first post, and thanks for that.

However, could you do me a favour and pop into the Welcome area and introduce yourself to our community by supplying your basic geographical location, system details and music tastes, as this is a requirement for all new members joining AOS.

Once done, you can then carry on and enjoy the discussions.

Cheers!

Marco.

[Alex_UK]

Seconded - sounds like you have a lot to offer Colin, and would be great if you stick around and get stuck in, so to speak.

[Colin151]

Thanks for the welcome guys,
will post my details on the welcome area tomorrow.
Cheers,
Colin

Hi Colin,

Welcome to AOS

Great first post, and thanks for that.

However, could you do me a favour and pop into the Welcome area and introduce yourself to our community by supplying your basic geographical location, system details and music tastes, as this is a requirement for all new members joining AOS.

Once done, you can then carry on and enjoy the discussions.

Cheers!

Marco.

[Marco]

No problem, Colin - I look forward to that

Marco.