The Vida is capable of many things but it cant work magic. For fun I tried IO Ltd into the MC - it fell well short. You may however find the sound offers promise enough to ignite your curiosity sufficiently to go on to pair with a matching SUT…
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You do really need a further 38 dB of gain from your MC stage to get the output of an Io up to MM level. Most active MC stages offer maybe 24 dB or thereabouts. A transformer is the best option with at least a 40:1 ratio & preferably 60-80:1 ratio
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db 's to confuse me more 
Wouldn’t a 1:10 give 0.4mv, 1:20 0.8mv, that sort of output is within normal range of MC input?
You can’t really run a SUT into an MC stage. Most MC stages present a load of perhaps 50-100 Ohms. If you show that to the secondary of a SUT even at 1:10 the cartridge would be looking at an unfeasibly low impedance on the primary side.
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Native input of Paradise is in excess of 1k ohm, loading is added to the input with loading plugs. Does that help?
I think it helps. But all the ‘clever’ in SUTs is in tuning their inevitable imperfections (stray Cs and Ls and Rs) to deliver the sound we want. That tuning can be strongly affected by the load impedance they’re presented with. It’s not just the cartridge that needs to look into the right Z. The SUT does too, or its performance will be changed.
VB
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As seen elsewhere, it’s working straight into Paradise, a little faffing with input loading but initial thoughts are its working sufficiently well.
However sufficient nagging about levels and SUT’s, so…
Anybody got 1:10 ish lying around collecting dust? Ones suitable for low impedance the best place to start?
Collect from Jim’s return at Settle would be perfect but happy to cover postage costs.
Paging Jack…
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I have a 1:6, probably too low
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I don’t think it is too low, being more specific I’d like to have a go between 1:5 and 1:15.
With less loading (82 ohms) its less ‘sat on’ and significantly louder than 3.3 ohms.
I’ll bring it to Jim’s, then, if you want
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Heard the io at Mark’s place into Paradise. I thought it sounded good. It certainly works. The addition of SUT just introduces a lot of hum and softened the overall quality of the sound.
I thought it sounded pretty good straight into paradise.
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The SUT did seem to alter the bass, mismatch or an extra meter of cable will be a mystery, but it worked.
Next decision whether to live with it as is, or go on a never ending quest searching for SUT that works better than without…
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If you’re even thinking about it…
It’s good to have a hobby.
I dont see how you are going to get past this
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It should sound better than ‘pretty good’
^This
Either use a MM phono and an appropriate SUT, or get rid of the Io
I’m afraid it’s one or the other.
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I’d suggest the it depends on the actual MC stage. If the Paradise presents 1k, then it should be ok in theory. However, your average step-up has higher DC resistance on both primary and secondary as it’s not designed for ultra low impedance cartridges like the Io so, really, you would need a custom step-up transformer. In which case You might as well get a 1:80 wound for use into an MM stage.
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It sounds like the spec listed for IO J2 of 0.14mv is correct, if it were 0.04 I think I’d be having more problems and really low volume rather than turning up a couple of notches.
1:80 isn’t going to help either?? It was used with Olan’s new S8 but I didn’t investigate the settings.
There’s a Hashimoto HM-3 for low impedance carts, and you often see resistors across coils to suit?
Custom wound SUT? I’ve not investigated but I’d have thought it easier to source a 1:10 than even 1:50.
Any IO’s in the Midlands? I’d be interested in hearing another.
*Tim’s comment about it sounding alright, IO is on SME4 and Sony TTS, I’m still tuning it and the plinth. Sat next to it is my favoured Garrard 301/Mission Mechanic/Art9. Lots of time spent on getting it ‘just right’ and the system built around it.
**Too much gear, not nuff time 
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I’ve not got the S8 yet due to holidays. Hopefully, I will be looking to shift a minty ANUK S3 very soon though.
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