Hey guys, I'm finally about to order a bunch of Decware goodies and putting a system together. I will be using a Turntable in my setup and I already happen to have a have a Grado Statement Reference 1 MC cartridge that I will be using in a VPI Traveler Turntable. The cartridge is described as an MC (they call it an MC cartridge, however I don't think it is a true MC, it just has the specs of an MC) because it is a low output cartridge of 0.5mV and resistance of 2 Ohms.
I contacted Grado Labs and asked their tech if they were familiar with the Decware ZP3 and they weren't. But their tech said that a Phono Preamp needs to have a minimum of 52dB of gain to work with their MC and that the ZP3 specs are only stating 42dB of gain.
Steve says to use a step up ZMC and it looks like the ZMC2 would be the one according to its specs ... However, the Grado Labs Tech then went on to say "why would I want to use a step up?" As the Grado MC design has already removed coils and using a step up would be adding back anything that Grado already took out. Their MM uses 6,000 turns on the coils, while their MC have only 380 turns thus reducing the resistance 470 ohms to 2 ohms! There is more on their website here:
http://gradolabs.com/page_cartridges.php?item=bda52645f0d1d3f7bf93795cd69af41eSince I'm kind of new to Turntables in general ...
1. Firstly I'm wondering what they meant about using a step up will be adding back to the Grado MC design?
2. Secondly, I'm wondering if the the ZP3 would even be a good choice for the Grado Labs MC?
3. Lastly, I was wondering what your opinions were in regard to using an all tube setup? (i.e. Integrated Tube Amp and Phono Amp) Would this be too sweet sounding or slow?
I plan on either the Decware Mini Torii or SE34I.3 (option 5) with the ZP3 as the phono preamp (as long as it can handle the Grado MC).
Thanks in advance for your input guys!