Phono preamp or SUT for low output moving coil

Viridian, As i see it, and as I just wrote it, yes, in theory the current driven phono stage presents a dead short to the cartridge, but in fact it cannot, because if it did, you would have a fancy mute switch. There's the rub with current drive.

Lew, I dont know how you see it, or how you wrote it, but a careful reading of my post will reveal the qualifier ""conceptually" which I believe is correct.

In practice it is impossible to achieve, but the practical outcome is, IMHO, the same, the lower the internal impedance of the cartridge, the greater the transfer of current to the phono stage. And that is because the internal impedance of a cartridge will likely be well above the input impedance of a transimpedance phono stage.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/sutherland-engineering-little-loco-phono-preamplifier-measurements

And as far as semantic distinctions go, I will continue to use the term "transimpedance" as it is common usage, in the same way that SME did not invent the common headshell configuration, Ortofon did. But the convention is to refer to it as the SME headshell, so to communicate with others I observe the convention. Communication is often a messy, and imprecise, business.

BTW I am not an advocate, nor an apologist, for transimpedance phono stages. Transfer of current is hardly synonymous with good sound, except in the instance of maximizing signal to noise ratio, and my apologies if I gave the impression that it was.

How about a Mola Mola Lupe?

Virudian, but how about a situation where the internal R of the cartridge is well below the input Z of the phono stage? These days that’s quite possible. Is that now voltage drive, or what? There are now several LOMCs with R less that 2 ohms and several “trans impedance” phono stages with Z greater than 2 ohms, even up to 12 ohms. I don’t know about the Sutherland in particular. Anyway, I only point this out because it may explain my actual listening experience. And those of some others. And what I hear is that each mating can give a qualitatively different result, sufficient gain is not the problem.

Allnic AUT 8000. I’ve been pleased with mine for 2 years in a horn system.