SUT Advice, Ortofon ST-7 or Rothwell MC?

[Intenso]

I'm running with an Ortofon Quintet Bronze that I rather like and may in the future replace with a Quintet Black.

I need a SUT and am thinking of these two options as they both come in around the same price if bought on the bay.

Has anyone tried either or can offer any feedback on the merits of either.

Cheers...

[montesquieu]

I would go for the Rothwell.

Modern Ortofon SUTs are reasonable quality but always significantly overpriced.

[RothwellAudio]

Which Rothwell MC?

The MCL and the MCX are both very high quality units, the only difference is the turns ratio - 1:20 for the MCL and 1:10 for the MCX. For the Ortofon Quintet Bronze I would recommend the MCX, though the MCL would be fine too, particularly if your phonostage is a bit less sensitive.

The MC1 is an entry level alternative. It's turns ratio sits in between the MCL and MCX and would also be suitable for the Quintet Bronze. Both the MCL and MCX have higher quality cores and more sophisticated winding geometry than the MC1 and they are better at rejecting hum from nearby mains transformers than the MC1. They also have a wider bandwidth than the MC1. Having said that, the MC1 is still a very capable transformer and doesn't actually sound very far behind the other two.

I can't really comment on the Ortofon ST-7 other than to say that one guy I know who works in a hi-fi shop sold his Ortofon Verto (a £775 transformer) to replace it with an MCL.

[hifi_dave]

Having used both, I would recommend the Rothwell without hesitation.

[guardofmagog]

I'm running with an Ortofon Quintet Bronze that I rather like and may in the future replace with a Quintet Black.

I need a SUT and am thinking of these two options as they both come in around the same price if bought on the bay.

Has anyone tried either or can offer any feedback on the merits of either.

Cheers...


Hi,

I recently bought a Rothwell MCL for my DL103R (on my fully modified SL1200) and I am quite pleased with it. I do have a very nice phone stage (Simaudio LP5.3) which was setup as MC and decided to convert it to MM (with the SUT) to lower the overall phono stage noise floor. With the Rothwell MCL, soundstage is even more larger and deeper with an improved sound resolution.

[Intenso]

Thanks guys,

I've decided to put a little more money together for the Rothwell MCL as I know if I buy the cheaper one I will always be wondering what the MCL is like :)

[petrat]

Good decision :thumbsup:
IME, Rothwell gear is properly designed and excellent value.

[RothwellAudio]

Thanks for the kind words about the stuff I make - quite heart-warming :thumbsup:

[Marco]

Another '+1' for Andrew's stuff, which in my experience ticks the all-important 'SPPV' box, as well as being well made and reliable.

However, Tony, aside from Andrew's excellent SUTs, I'd also recommend his MC head amp, which with being an active device, will have a different sound, and you use it in the same way as an SUT.

Details (and review) here: http://www.rothwellaudioproducts.co.uk/html/headspace_mc_headamp.html

These days, I'm more of a head amp guy, as in general I prefer their impact on the music, so it's just another option for you to consider :)

Marco.

[RothwellAudio]

...aside from Andrew's excellent SUTs, I'd also recommend his MC head amp, which with being an active device, will have a different sound, and you use it in the same way as an SUT.

Details (and review) here: http://www.rothwellaudioproducts.co.uk/html/headspace_mc_headamp.html

These days, I'm more of a head amp guy, as in general I prefer their impact on the music, so it's just another option for you to consider

Another forum member has recently acquired a Headspace - maybe he'll share his findings for the benefit of the rest of the of the community.
Yes, I would agree that maybe the Headspace has some sense of "slam" than a typical transformer.

[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. :thumbsup:

[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 :thumbsup:

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 :thumbsup:

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! :cool:

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.