TRU-LIFT Automatic Tonearm Lift Review

With the resurgence of vinyl over the last decade manufacturers have taken notice and there are more offerings than ever for new vinylphiles. Not only do we have a great selection of turntables from VPI, Clearaudio, Music Hall, Marantz, Pro-Ject, etc. but there are lots of great new accessories as well to enhance your vinyl listening experience.

As we all know, listening to records can be a little inconvenient compared to firing up a Spotify playlist, however there are a few new items to the market that can help you out. If you're like me and can't always immediately get up at the end of a record side, you can now get a device that lifts your tonearm so your stylus isn't sitting there grinding on the end loop for several minutes. If you are using a $25 cartridges, this might not be a big deal, but there are some people out there using fancy pants carts that would be very interested in these.

There are a couple solutions I'm aware of: The Pahmer Enterprizes Q Up, which appears to be a great choice for value oriented listeners, and the Integrity HiFi Tru-Lift, which, in my opinion, seems a little more elegant and "at home" on a nicer turntable. The job of these devices is relatively simple, as the tonearm reaches the end of the record, it presses against a lever or switch and the tonearm is lifted to prevent the stylus from remaining on the record.

This post is going to be a brief review of the Tru-Lift. I say brief as it does exactly what its supposed to do without any notable flaw. Below is the no-frills packaging, which I actually appreciate. It drives me nuts when I purchase something I already knew I wanted and it seems like the manufacturer spent more on the package than the product itself... but I digress.

The Tru Lift is available in Brass and Stainless Steel, both relatively heavy metals. For the science savvy, the density of brass is between 8440-8730 kg/m³ and the density of stainless steel is between 7480-8000 kg/m³, so the brass units of the same size will weigh slightly more.

I like the look of the brass (and the added weight) but the stainless matches my setup better. I purchased the Deluxe package that included four different heights, should I ever change my turntable down the line. The units can be purchased individually for $199 (as of this writing) and are available/adjustable from 1 1/4" to 2 3/4", and the Deluxe package is available for $259.

The Deluxe set comes with 4 different sized bases

The units have a nice heft to them, which is good as you don't want them to fall over. Unscrewing the unit gives easy access to the internal mechanism.

The height is easily adjustable via set screw. 

Setup took me a couple of tries, but once it's in the right spot you're good to go. I had to adjust a bit after these photos were taken, the little lever needs to be facing toward you to work as intended. There's a video that explains the setup. Once the lever is slowly pushed into by the tone-arm, the spring loaded piece slowly and carefully lifts up the tonearm. The unit remained stationary when the mechanism was struck, which is great as you don't have to move it back into place. To reset the mechanism, you simply push the spring loaded piece back down and you're good to go.

Overall I'm fond of the Tru-lift. It's a simple, elegant solution that does exactly what it is supposed to do and is easy to use. Pricing seems on par with other audio accessories, but may be a little high for those with modest systems. I'm actually surprised there are not more products like the Tru-Lift available, but it definitely satisfies a need for avid vinyl listeners. Highly recommended. 

The Fine Print: Zynsonix Audio LLC and DIYAudioBlog have no affiliation with Integrity HiFi and/or the Tru Lift product. The author of this review was offered dealer pricing for the Tru Lift system as consideration upon request, however was not a factor in the evaluation of the product. 

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.