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Testimonials "HI BOB: I have spent a couple of hours listening to the cinemag transformer. I must agree with you it is a very fine transformer with the Denon 103R. It is also excellent with the Ortofon SPU cartridge. I am very happy with my purchase. I must also compliment you for recommending the right transformer rather than the most expensive one. Thanks for adding to my musical pleasure with this fine Step-UP. Regards: Mark" "Hi Bob. My system is finally all set, and your CineMag sounds amazing with my Dynavector Xl1 Just unbelievable. This is definitely my last step up. I'm not shopping for a step up anymore. And thanks again for your generosity,' Enjoy the music. Elli."
"Good morning Bob, I had recieved the "device" on friday as per.when I opened the box and removed the unit I thought boy o boy what a cuuute little sut!!! I am also delighted with the configuration as it will allow me to shorten the tonearm cable and set this cuuute unit next to the 'table. most impartantly, apon checking out this cuuuute unit I found the irritating upper mid/ low terble raspiness was replaced with a large smooth coherant soundstage with good transient attack and good tight and deep bass! I am going to have this "device" have a shoot-out aganst an EAR MC-4 and will let you know what happens (if you don't already) !" " ...............................I had time last night to check the performace of the mc-4 vs the tiny cinemag and the difference was dramatically in favor of the cinemag!!!! frankly I was going to use the less expensive cinemag sut untill I could afford something like the ear but now that theory is out. this supports that sometimes various equipment can complement each other but may not be giving the best performance.the 'other system' had an origin 'table and arm and a PRE_AMP and my front end is a TERES 'table PHANTOM arm and no and I mean NO PRE-AMP! instead I use a TRANSFORMER attenuator and my phono stage is D.C. fed and is the whole system is performing MUCH better than the OTHER system! I was not as aware of this discrepancy when I went to my friends house all seemed to work okay and we would just enjoy a session of spinning vinyl. now all of that is changed and my buddy is going to have to do some serious changes to his system!! anyway I am NOT going to seek a different sut at this time and the only way I'll change is if I can make a direct comparison. ...................Tom" "First
impressions were that it looked
great: very well designed and built....it sounds so nice I've just been
listening to music....The output on 30x results in a fairly close level
match with my CD player, which is very convenient.... The sound is open
and airy in the mid-range with apparently no loss at the frequency
extremes.... The Cine-Mags restore the open, airy sound of the
Bottlehead and just don't seem to get in the way. As a great bonus your
design is exceptionally quiet. With 'ground' connected I can detect no
hum arising from the Cine-Mags at all - all I am hearing is some low
noise from the Amperex tubes in my Bottlehead Seduction....All in all,
this is an excellent audio bargain, a 'keeper' as they say....for now I
just intend to forget about the phono-amp side and listen to the music." Bob: I received the Cinemag on Monday, and I had a nearby dealer manufacture a wire that we discussed on this thread for me. I hooked the Cinemag to the MM stage of my Art Audio Reference. All I can say is that the SPU no longer sounds cardboard like flat. It has a lot more midrange "bloom" and much better bass response. The cartridge is not meant to have real sparkly highs, which with my system would tear my head off. I believe that if one of the major companies manufactured this device, they would have put it in a much fancier package and charged 2 to 3 times more for it. I now firmly believe that if someone was looking to get a phono stage, a strictly MM one and a transformer like yours, which works with a large variety of carts, would be the way to go. Thanks again, Charles_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hi Bob, i just tried this little thing..and it sound
really
amazing!!!! I think about all the people that are saying since
years that
dl 103 ha too much highs..they never tried s proper SUP!!! Hello
Bob ……….Just
a further
up-date. The SUT with the Denon 103R Uwe panzerholz wood body is
down-
right magnificent. If don’t have an Uwe wood body for your denon
you should get
one. The SUT is ‘fed’ into a Nagra PL P (internal
transformers by-passed) and
signals taken from the Tape Out. Alternatively thru’ an EAR324
via the mc/mm
input. I think supporting it with 3 Stillpoint cones
(without
risers) enhances the performance even further. Lee-Sai Hi Bob,
Hi Bob, I want to
compliment you as I think
your research has paid off. I am now getting a better sound with a less
expensive phono stage and after changing my wall outlet to a
cryogenically
treated outlet, and using your SUT, the sound is drawing me back to
play
records more, which in my mind reflects the quality of success of your
SUT
design, and for this I am very grateful ! My stereo system now sounds
fantastic. I am sharing this good news with all of my local audio
friends. Hello Bob: I have been using your Sowter SUT for about a month now and I think it is great. Not only does it look beautiful with its glossy black finish, they sound great too, working special magic on the midrange, and lifting my SPU to an undeniably higher level.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Bob, So…it’s
been about 3 months. Was waiting for the Cinemags
and the Cardas cables to settle into my head. I really
couldn’t believe
what I heard at first, but I still hear it. I am using an old
Adcom
preamp as my phono amp. Using its MC input alone I could hear the
vinyl
sound, but the sound wasn’t breathing or 3-D, mostly I
didn’t get that sense of
sound launching from darkness. Inserting the Cinemags with Cardas
cables,
switching to the MM input changed all that and immediately made the
sound more
appealing than SACD, even with the things it does right. Wow. Michael Bob, just wanted you to know I'm thrilled with the SUT I purchased from you. Beautiful build quality. Transparent gain, and the dynamics and detail I'm hearing now from my Cartridges now will have me listening to my whole album collection! Thanks. Kevin Hi Bob, I
just wanted you to know
that I am very happy with the Sowter SUT i got last week. I have to say
that I
can't hear any down side. Everything is better. Recordings I have heard
a
million times like Glen Gould's Goldberg Variations just sounds more
natural
and more involving. The soundstaging is spectacular. But the bottom
line is
everything is more musical. I wish I had done this sooner. I think
there is
whole bunch of people who are listening to moving coils that are not
getting
what they paid for. Bob, brilliant job! Tom Martin Hi
Bob Just to let you know that my Cine-Mag with the balanced XLR option arrived last Friday and after a couple of days listening I'd like to tell you that I'm delighted with it. Fantastic
build quality and sound to match, as for the service well it doesn't
get any
better, two weeks from order to delivery for a custom build sent from
the
US to the UK is simply amazing, thank you so much. 06-26-10:
213cobra ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ |