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a dilemma for cartridge/phono stage combination

the cantilever of my Benz-Micro MC-20E2 "High Output" cartridge was broke.
fixing it will cost more than a new one.
benz offered me what they call  repair/exchange with a nice 40 % discounted price.
i'm thinking to go on it.
my dilemma is between a high output cartridge like mc silver, which is kind of equivalent to the one i had, or to the low/mid output.
i'm working now without external phono stage and with my 2.0 mv that i had i used to raise the volume of my intagreted amp not more than 11-12 clock.
i read that generally low output mc are better quality that the high one's.
another cartridge that i have with 0.4 mv ( monster cable alpha 2) gives me very thin and dull sound, so i guess i will need an phono stage for the low output cartridge.
if it'll give me a real sound improvement i am ready to spend on a phono stage.
i know that benz micro also sell those. 
the models i consider for my budget limit are :
Benz Micro MC Silver
https://artsexcellence.com/benz-micro-mc-silver.html

Benz Micro MC Gold
https://artsexcellence.com/benz-micro-mc-gold.html

Benz Micro ACE-S low
https://artsexcellence.com/benz-micro-ace-s-low.html

Benz Micro ACE-S medium
https://artsexcellence.com/benz-micro-ace-s-medium.html

Benz Micro ACE-S high
https://artsexcellence.com/benz-micro-ace-s-high.html?___store=ae_en&___from_store=ae_nl

my turntable and arm are well tempered.

i'll appreciate very much some guidance .

stone1

Showing 2 responses by atmasphere

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
7,068 posts
 
If you like your phono preamp rather than replace it I would get a Step Up Transformer (SUT) **if** you decide on a low output cartridge.

The SUT will have to be properly loaded (which is usually a resistor-capacitor combination) depending on the cartridge. Some of the very best SUTs are made by Jensen Transformers. They have loading information for a large variety of cartridges.
The Hana is a very good recommendation BTW.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
7,068 posts
 
in several places i read that low output mc are generally better in sound then high output .
Low output cartridges generally have more bandwidth.
tried to find out prices of Jensen sut’s.do you mean one of those?
https://www.cs1.net/products/jensen_transformers/MC-2RR.htm
I do, but you will have to find a way to load the output of the transformers.

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