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Thread: Rothwell MCX SUT – My Experience

  1. #11
    Bigman80 Guest

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimbo View Post
    Will do. I have had very good results with the K&K SUT and Denon 301 mk2. Got the Flu at the moment so best stay clear for a week or so!
    🤢

  2. #12
    Join Date: May 2020

    Location: Italy

    Posts: 10
    I'm Gianfranco.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bigman80 View Post
    What I really wanted to write was “WOW this has crushed the Hashimoto HM-3 and everything else I have put in against it” but I can’t. What I am going to write is yet another parable about how matching the SUT and Cartridge via Spec/data sheet is only going to get you part the way there. You NEED a synergistic match.

    On paper, The MCX is a perfect match with the Ortofon Kontrapunkt b, however, in the comfort of my listening space things haven’t quite worked out that way. Let me explain.

    Right from the off I didn’t like what I heard. I was convinced it was because the MCX was cold and sure enough tried to convince myself that when it was room temperature, things would get better, and to a degree, it did. The sound stage was huge, but everything felt a little bit all over the place and messy. The wonderful separation and organisation I had previously with the HA-5oo wasn’t there. It felt like I was sat too close to the screen at the cinema and I couldn’t take in all the picture. I needed to be another 4 feet back to get the picture in focus. A day or so later and I felt things had improved and probably due to A) My perception and 2) the MCX getting to room temperature, I was starting to see the qualities of the MCX. It is very fluid, and the soundstage suffers from no compression whatsoever. But there was a problem. Tonally I felt things had become a little anaemic, well, quite anaemic actually.

    I changed cable to pure copper and felt the body had returned slightly but that I was sacrificing some focus and detail. I made up a couple of different sets of cables and tried them all. Nothing has restored the body and timbre I felt i'd lost.

    I sat there a little perplexed as to what was wrong. Hum, buzzing, cable dressing was perfect. I have suffered NO HUM or buzzing with this unit, it the quietest SUT I have had here. No exceptions. Its well-built, the innards are beautifully laid out and by using Lundahl you are guaranteeing you have some of the best winding in the world. What is going on here?

    Out of pure frustration, I installed Jimbo’s Denon 302MKII and WOW ……………….

    Suddenly everything came into focus, the body returned, the soundstage was huge! Detailed, fluid, refined, expansive, jovial, you name it and It does it. I put the Goldring Eroica in and whilst it was rather good, it didn’t quite reach the heights of the Denon. Both the Denon and the Goldring did sound stunning though. The focus and pinpoint accuracy of the Sound stage returned. With the Denon there was clear definition between layers and everything was, for a moment.....perfect.

    On paper, I have no idea if the Denon and MCX is a good match or not, I haven’t looked. The truth is I don’t care! This combo is a killer and I am swept away by every track I play and here is the problem, I don’t own a Denon 301 MKII, I own an Ortofon Kontrapunkt b and this means the match isn’t a good one in my system. the Synergy just isn't there. Maybe its because the MCX is so transparent I am not really liking the Ortofon? Maybe I am hearing what the Kontra REALLY sounds like and the MCX is doing the exact job it’s designed to do and making absolutely no impression on the sound at all. I just don’t know. All I am sure of is when paired with the Denon 301, its purely stunning as a combo and when I paired the Kontra with a HM-3, I had the same feeling of euphoric ecstasy.

    So THE CONCLUSION – The MCX is beautiful, with the right cartridge. It’s worth every penny of the £335 I paid for it but I won’t be keeping it and will be getting some HM-3/7 (whatever I can afford) purely due to the synergy. I am gutted it hasn’t worked out because there is no doubt Mr Rothwell knows his stuff in the SUT world and his product is exceptional. Just hasn’t worked out in this instance. I can recommend the MCX on the basis of what I heard with the Denon because that combination was phenomenal.

    Synergy beats the spec sheet.



    // Hi, I read what you say about this Rothwell MCX sut, but I don't understand why you first claim that it is exceptional .., and then you say you don't keep it. ?
    This seems to me to be a contradiction.
    I'm thinking of taking it for my AT33SA Audio Technica cartridge, and I hope I'm not wrong.
    You make me understand ...
    Thanks

  3. #13
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: N E Kent

    Posts: 51,624
    I'm Geoff.

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    Two points.

    1) Oliver tends not to keep items very long.

    2) He is no longer a participating member at this time.
    It is impossible for anything digital to sound analogue, because it isn't analogue!

  4. #14
    Join Date: Apr 2009

    Location: Near Saffron Walden, Essex

    Posts: 7,087
    I'm Dave.

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    The Rothwell MCX is great. Don't hesitate.

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