Step Up Transformers….Are they Worth the Trouble?

I did not read the whole thread but it points out that the options are pretty much endless. Make your life simple... Contact Dave Slagle at Emia.Tell him what you have and what you want to do and he can wind you an SUT that is perfect for your situation, copper or silver but in my limited experience you want silver. I believe he will let you audition a pair before you buy.

https://myemia.com/

Disclaimer:: not affiliated other than a happy customer

Buy the phono stage too if you can afford it... phenomenal. End game stuff

as an owner of an Emia phono and silver SUT, I recommend saving yourself a lot grief.  Just go ahead and get the silver SUT. Contact Dave Slagle, tell him what you have and what you want, and he will custom wind you the ideal solution. You will have an end game solution you will not regret

the today top phono SS stages has A RIAA deviation of at least 0.1db and lower than that, mine is 0.011 and FM Acoustics 0.05.

chasing numbers like this is a fool's errand. There are so many errors introduced in so many stages of the process that these small deviations do not matter.

Everything else being equal then of course go for the better measurement, but everything else is never equal ... so how does it sound? That's really all that matters..

regarding SUTs and loading , someone much more knowledgeable than me (Dave Slagle) advocates for choosing an SUT ratio to get the gain you need, then loading it on the input side to get the load you need, DO NOT rely on the reflected impedance of the phono stage. The problem with this approach is that most phono stages use the arbitrary 47KΩ load, which is usually not the ideal. It should usually be much higher. That is the Emia approach which has proven to be audio nirvana for me... not chasing measurements.

“Loading on the input side”.  Does that mean using a resistor across the primaries of the SUT (which on its surface sounds like a bad idea) or what? Dave is a great outside the box thinker.

exactly. https://myemia.com/SUT.html

https://myemia.com/Loading.html here's a discussion

anybody else having issues with this thread? Unless I go to my responses page I can't see the latest updates

I agree that one does want RIAA error to be as small as practical, but I don't agree that +/-0.2db (the actual data for the Allnic, reported by Raul as "0.4db") is anything to be concerned about.  I also own Raul's 3160 Phonolinepreamp, and it's excellent too.  I don't know the RIAA error of the MP1, but it's probably wider than that of the 3160. I don't hear that as a problem; I don't hear it at all when comparing the two.

agree completely. How much error is introduced on the production side? Does the deviation of  EQ applied in the electronics that drive the cutting head approach such small amounts, or the other errors introduced in the cutting process?  I'll answer that...... no. Your speakers in room response introduce many dB of deviation, etc. At some point you have to focus on things other than getting distortions down to such ridiculously small amounts, like how it sounds. 

On the record side, the cutter manufacturer goes to great lengths to make sure the cutter is spot on to the proper pre-emphasis.

you have more faith in your fellow man than I do

and do you really think they get within .01 dB or whatever it is that Raul thinks is needed on this end?

For passive EQ you need a series resistance; we have that value set high enough that it dominates the equation of source impedance driving the EQ network so the tubes become irrelevant.

and what is "irrelevant?" Your irrelevant might be another man's terrible, although in my world I think we agree on it. 

Clasic posts of an audiophile but certainly not a MUSIC lover.

how odd you say that....I don't see where anything you posted has anything to do with loving music, only chasing numbers.

MY system produces beautiful music. That is all I care about. Yet you somehow know me? 

I posted how I got there. You can nitpick it if you wish, no problem here.

and BTW , your claim of .01 dB accuracy with your phono stage is ridiculous. Even if it could do it, you can't accurately measure it. You are embarrassing yourself by making the claim....

Good day

Raul. You have no idea what my background and understanding is.

What I do know and understand from many years of experience, is you are delusional if you think you are accurately measuring differences between .01 and .012 dB, and even more delusional if you believe that your RIAA is accurate to that degree from 20-20KHz

The fact that are even trying to achieve that tells me that you are indeed chasing numbers. I recommend hanging out at Audio Science Review where all that matters is numbers. You will be as happy there as I am every time I spin a record through my .6 dB phono corrector

P.S. My apologies to the OP.. I am done with this distraction, Get a good MM stage with high input impedance and a quality SUT and you will be as happy as I am in my .6dB world

Back to my journey, I just finalized a tube phono with good MM and MC capabilities. We plan to compare the tube phono in following configurations,

1) Fuuga ➡️ Allnic H-6500 MC ➡️ Accuphase E-650

2) Fuuga ➡️ Konus Phono (transimpedance) ➡️ E-650

3) Fuuga ➡️ EMIA SUT (copper) ➡️ H-6500 MM ➡️ E-650

what is the step up ratio on the EMIA SUT ? Just curious what load it will present to the cartridge without loading it. Do you have loading plugs to play around with that?

No additional loading plugs needed as per Dave.

go with what Dave recommends 

I have the silver chosen based on what I read, and very happy with it, but not any direct comparison with the copper.