EAR MC4 - stepuptrafo

Från Positive Feedback: "The EAR MC 4 is the step up transformer for the high-end connoisseur who wants and demands the very best. I could find nothing to criticize, no changes to make, and no quibbles to discuss. Not even broken in, the MC4 embarrassed my Ortofon transformer. I cannot possibly envision a better product or something that is more neutral, musical, or powerful than the MC4. Killer good! The EAR MC4 receives my highest recommendation and congratulations to Tim de Paravicini, both the King of Tubes and the King of Transformers!" An ''Ideal Transformer'' must by definition 'transform one kind of energy to another without loss' no more or no less! We have achieved results for audio close to the ideal, for it will allow the very best of ''Moving Coil'' cartridges to extract the most possible information out of the groove. Most Active ''Head Amps'' have many flaws which inhibit the release of all the possible information out of the groove because the laws of economics and physics prohibits most designers from achieving the ideal, which is wide bandwidth minimal time distortion, minimum noise contribution, and maximum protection from external influences. The Moving Coil cartridge is a much more efficient converter of energy than Moving Magnet but has the great disadvantage that its voltage ouput is not really practical for most amplifier technology to handle it. So if we take its product of voltage times current and transform it to a suitable form for most amplifiers to handle it we then find that we actually have gained an advance over the Moving Magnet in noise figures of at least 6dB. This means that we can achieve 90dB of dynamic range that the record potentially offers. Hum Rejection: Greater than 60dB Channel Separation: Greater than 70dB (20-20KHz) Channel Balance: Less than 0.1dB Rise Time: 2 μs (any level) Phase Linearity: Less than ~5 degrees (20 - 20 kHz) Frequency Response: 3 Hz - 100 kHz +0.2 dB - 1.0 dB Voltage Gain: x30, x24, x18, x10 Input Impedances: 3 ohm, 6 ohm, 12 ohm, & 40 ohm Equivalent Noise Contribution: Less than 1dB "Designed by audio legend Tim de Paravicini, the MC 4 is a bit unusual as step-ups go: It has four primaries, accessed via four different sets of taps on its copper-wound transformers. This gives the device four sets of gains and impedances rather than just one, via four pairs of gold-plated RCA input jacks on the rear panel. Each pair of inputs provides a different impedance -- 3, 6, 12, or 40 ohms -- to produce respective outputs of 30x, 24x, 18x, or 10x the input voltage. For example, the MC 4 increases the 0.3mV output of my Ortofon Anniversary SPU cartridge to 9mV (3 ohm tap), 7.2mV (6 ohms), 5.4mV (12 ohms), or 3mV (40 ohms). This makes the MC 4 incredibly flexible, suitable for use with a variety of MC cartridges with various outputs and internal impedances. Apropos of this flexibility, the rear panel has two grounding posts, each isolated from the signal grounds with a pair of 10-ohm resistors."