Tango Step Up Transformers vs Bob's Sky Blue Cinemag

Well, All I know is that my biz partner, Taras,...while at a show dinner, sat near Bob and some industry leaders and the conversation turned to a discussion on transformers. Bob acquitted himself well (gave better than he took), and is no fool when it comes to transformers.

Both Tango and Cinemag are excellent! Tango.is certainly the best audio.transformer company in Japan. My Sanei SET 2A3 has all Tango iron, including chokes and power transformer. I would characterize the sonic "flavor" of the Tango.and Cinemag SUTs as that of two different maple syrups from different areas! 

Haven’t heard Tango, but the blue-label CineMag / Bob’s Devices Sky lineup is excellent. They’re on the warm / lush / fleshy (even slightly "bloomy") side of the tonal spectrum, but they’ll still be more detailed than lesser (cheaper) transformers like the CineMag red-label 3440A, Lundahl’s lower-end LL9206, etc. Pairs wonderfully with everything I’ve thrown at it -- Ortofon Cadenza Bronze, Koetsus of all stones & cantilevers, top Shelters, etc. Or course the Benz LPS doesn’t mate well to SUTs in general, but that’s not the Sky’s fault.

The Sky has a pleasing, musical sound that’s fun to listen to. It doesn’t have the laser-beam razor sharpness of some others (Lundahl LL1931 and LL1931Ag), but for me that can get in the way of music too. Adding a Sky in place of a SS headamp or MC stage can often alleviate problems with "anemic" sonic balance, yielding newfound weight and palpability to the music.

Thank you everyone for your responses so far.  It sounds like I can't really go wrong with either.  Your help and comments are greatly appreciated!

Best Wishes to all,
Don

You might also look at Quadratic by Cinemag.  Quadratic is a division of Cinemag with exclusive access to a new TOTL Cinemag transformer.  I haven't heard it, but I have respect for the designer, an ex-Pass Labs engineer.

http://www.quadraticaudio.com/index.php

I had at onetime or another 2 of Bobs Devices SUT’s.  One was with the red Cinemag transformers and the other was with the blue transformers.  The blue Cinemags were the better of the two, lush sounding.  I only sold them because my McIntosh preamp has moving coil input with cartridge loading on the fly via remote.  Otherwise, I would still own the Bobs Devices blue Cinemag SUT. 

Tried Bob's Sky SUTs.  Sound was good but I preferred the Hashitmoto HM7.  Also, make sure the Sky is wired correctly.  One of mine was not.

@edwyun,

Thank you for your post. I have been following this thread with great interest. I am speaking to Sound Tradition and they are recommending Live! MC-907 with a pair of the Hashimoto HM-7 MC step-up transformers, which use the US-made certified 4N OFHC copper wires for its winding for the finest sound quality.

My cartridge has the internal impedance of 6Ω and the output voltage is 0.4mV. They are recommending a calculated output level of 3.16mV with 52 ohms load via x30 setting or if I prefer a heavier load of 209 Ohms, it can be set to the x15 gain with the calculated output level of 3.11mV.

I am still considering other options so let’s see what I end up with.

I had Bob make me a Sky 40 special order with input and output rca's on opposite side s to fit inside my TT. What a gentleman to deal with. The sound with the Benz TR cartridge i use on that arm, is dynamic with gobs of detail and wonderful bass into my SS preamps built in MM input. On not so well recorded material i actually prefer it to my Benz LPS into a Io Eclipse phono, on perfect audiophile recordings i prefer the Io. Guess what i end up using most of the time.

So I ended up buying some vintage Hirata Tango step up transformers from Japan.  I hope to have them within the next 2 weeks.... not sure how the current pandemic will effect shipping times.

I truly appreciate everyone's contributions to this thread.  It certainly sounds like their are some great options available.  I couldn't resist snatching the virtually "unobtainable" Hirata Tango and looking forward to giving it a try.  If for whatever reason it doesn't live up to it's reputation, I can always order a Sky, etc as they are still currently in production.

Wishing you all the very best of health and happiness,
Don

@lalitk
Congrats and enjoy.  You will love the Hashimoto.  FWIW, I use the 15x setting with some loading resistors to get the loading down from 209 Ohms to 120 Ohms for my cart.  Perfect setup for me.

@no_regrets Congrats and enjoy also.  Lots of great SUTs out there.  Getting all the components working together optimally is key.