Budgie Cinemag MC Step Up Transformer (SUT)

The Budgie Cinemag MC Phono Step up transformer (SUT), phew, that's a mouthful. If you haven't been initiated into the wonderful world of vinyl, or even if you have, you might not know what all that means, so I'll do a quick clarification.

The Budgie series is Shannon Park's series of audio circuits that are designed around offering both great sound and reasonable pricing, Budgies for audiophiles on a budget. These include phono pre-amps, single ended amplifiers, step up transformers, and more. Cinemag is an american maker of fine audio transformers for microphone, phono and other applications. MC stands for moving coil. Many record players include MM cartidges (moving magnet) which have a higher (louder) output than moving coil cartridges. Many of the most high-end cartridges, as well as the immensely popular Denon DL-103, are moving coil.

A step-up transformer, or SUT for short, is needed to bring the low output level of moving coil cartridges up to the level of moving magnet cartridges, so one can use a traditional phono pre-amp for pre-amplification purposes. The SUT is plugged in right between the turntable and the phono preamp. Granted, there are phono preamps with both MM and MC capability, but they're not as common as the standard MM phono pre, which many audio enthusiasts are likely to already have.

Enter the Parks Audio Budgie Cinemag SUT. If there is beauty in simplicity, this design is Kate Upton in a bikini. A pair of load switches (MC high at 141 ohm load for medium output MC cartridges and MC low with a 35 ohm load for cartridges with a low output [less than 0.2mv]) and a ground lift are the only controls adorning the unit. Other than that, you have the input RCAs, output RCAs and ground binding post and that is all she wrote.

The attractive Budgie SUT board

Internally simple as well, only 48 solder points are required for an operational unit, including eight for each MC transformer, eight for each switch, and two for each RCA. Only twenty or so parts are necessary, including the PCB, the RCAs, the transformers, the switches, the screws, the black aluminum box for shielding purposes, and the feet.

Hammond alumminum chassis painted black

Cute little isolation feet

The Budgie SUT will work with three different Cinemag transformers, depending largely on your budget. (The pricing listed is as of this writing, Feb 2014 and may be different by the time you order.) You'll need two transformers, the CMQEE-3440APC runs $50ea, the CMQEE-3440AHPC runs $75ea, and the CM-1254PC runs a whopping $175ea. For differences, see below statement from the Budgie manual:

“The CM-1254 was designed specifically for moving coil phono cartridges. The CMQEE-3440A was originally designed for Quad Eight for microphone and line input to their preamps. The CM-1254 is much more difficult to make than the CMQEE-3440A and, hence, the price difference. The CMQEE-3440AH uses laminations which have seen collected over many years for characteristics which are optimal for
moving coil applications. We use the same laminations for the CM-1254.”

For this particular build, I used the CMQEE-3440AH PCB version with the nicer lams.

Cinemag CMQEE-3440AH transformers - PCB versions

In addition to the nicer lams, I added a set of Vampire RCAs with Teflon dielectric (below) and a Vampire binding post for the ground connection (seen above next to the transformers).

Vampire chassis RCAs

Thanks to the simplicity of this design, one won't need the little isolator rings or the ground rings that come with the RCAs, although it's always wise to save spare parts like these for later use.

Ground and isolation rings not needed

The RCAs (and ground binding post) will simply be screwed in the existing holes on the PCB, which effectively grounds them to the board. You'll need a small wire to run between the RCA signal and the solder pads on the PCB. For this I chose to use some Cardas 5Ns silver. A little bit of fashioning is necessary with a pair of needle nosed pliers for the solid core silver to give it the right form.

Silver wire looking like a deformed paper clip

Before soldering in the Cinemags, I chose to lay down a piece of electrical tape on the board, then poke the pins through it. This would help ensure the solder would not leak through the PCB holes while hot and short to the transformer housing.

PCB with electrical tape in place

Each of the little switches is soldered in place, and I put a dab of solder on the ground post as I didn't want it to loosen over time. The board was then cleaned up with some isopropyl alcohol and a toothbrush, followed with a few dabs of a towel (do note the black coloring on the PCB may bleed a little bit).

Holding the board to the chassis are some size #8 machine screws. I went with brass to match the mostly gold look of the unit.

This is a great little build from Shannon Parks and a bit more straightforward than using vintage microphone transformers or the wired versions of the "can" transformers.

The Fine Print:

Please remember that building circuits and performing circuit modifications can be dangerous to you and/or your surroundings and should only be performed by a certified technician. The owner of this blog and all associated parties can not / will not be held responsible if you attempt a build or modification posted above and cause physical harm to yourself or your surroundings. Many electronics contain high voltages that can kill, and mods, if performed improperly, can be a fire hazard. Please keep this in mind. 

MC Step-Up Transformer using Altec 4722

Despite the extreme convenience of computer-based audio systems, the turntable has not lost it's place in the hearts of many audiophiles. Sometimes that extra effort can be worth it, balancing the plinth, brushing the dust off the record, cleaning the stylus, flipping the record after a few songs, the list goes on. There's just something nice about that analog warmth of that teeny tiny stylus wandering through the grooves of a well pressed record.

One of the requirements for owning a turntable is a phono pre-amp. A phono pre-amp brings the low-level signal from the record player up to a point where it can be run to a standard amplifier. Equipment like CD players and DACs don't have this requirement because their output is already at a suitable level. So, a very small gauge wire runs from the cartridge through the tone arm and goes to whatever jacks are on the turntable, generally RCAs on more modern decks. A pair of RCAs are run from these jacks to the phono pre-amp, which amplifies the signal and passes it on to the main pre-amp or integrated amp in the users system. Occasionally, the pre-amp or integrated amp will have a built in phono input, but many enthusiasts prefer a separate unit as the quality can be better. To complicate matters further, many phono pre-amps only amplify the signal of a moving magnet (MM) cartridge. There are also moving coil (MC) cartridges that have an even lower signal that the phono pre-amp simply does not have enough gain to play at a proper listening level. In order to remedy this, one can use an MC step up transformer.

A common step-up transformer, the Ortofon ST-80 SE

An MC step up transformer is completely passive, no electricity is needed to run it. The signal runs from the turntable to the MC step up transformer which amplifies the signal a small amount, then the signal runs to the phono preamp, which amplifies it further to the point where it can be run to the main-pre amp or integrated amp, where it is amplified yet again before it makes it's way to the speakers. So the flow would be Record Player > MC Step Up > Phono Pre > Pre / Integrated.

Many DIYers have taken to the fact that vintage microphone transformers can be used as an MC step-up device. As JELabs has stated: "Moving Coil cartridges behave very much like condenser microphones - low impedance and low output - requiring a voltage boost. Step-up transformers are passive devices and as long as they are wired properly, they are virtually noiseless. To me a wide bandwidth input transformer is the most elegant way of boosting MC output to MM phono level." There are a variety of units that fit the bill, from the Altec 4722 and 15095, Denon AU320, RCA MI12399A, Tamura TKS83, and Thordarson T-43606-A just to name a few. Below you will see a variety of these units in step-up devices made by JELabs.

A Variety of Step Up transformers

I'll be making use of the Altec Peerless 4722, it's one of the most popular vintage units and commands a price because of that demand, but from the way JELabs described it, it seemed that the units have a bit more of a euphoric warmth than the others, which I always appreciate. The Altecs are in the shape of a vacuum tube with eight pins at the bottom designed to fit into a vacuum tube socket. The chassis was custom-made by Keith, eBay seller po1019, and is a very fetching little unit. Holes were drilled for the RCAs, ground posts and switches and punched for the tube sockets that would be holding the Altecs.

Prepped Chassis

Cardas RCAs (GRFA) and ground posts (GRND) will be adorning the petite chassis. These were secured using a small socket wrench.

Some Cardas bling

More to come...


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The Fine Print:
The above steps detailing the building of a MC step-up transformer are for entertainment purposes only and not to be performed under any circumstances. The owner of this blog and all associated parties can not / will not be held responsible if you attempt the process posted and cause physical harm to yourself, your surroundings or your property. Please keep this in mind.