music first audio MC Step-up User manual

MC Step-up Owners Manual

Introduction
Congratulations and thank you for purchasing the Music First Audio Moving Coil Step up
unit.
This unit steps up the level of a moving coil cartridge by a selectable ratio for connection to
a phono stage. This level increase is obtained via two large, very high uality transformers.
Selectable loading is also possible via a rotary switch on the front panel helping to tailor
the sound of the cartridge.
Connection
1. The rear panel houses all input and output connections. The input is situated to the
right and the output to the left.
2. Connect the input from your Tone arm to the input RCA jack pair.
3. Connect the ground from your Tone arm to ground post on Step-up case.
4. Connect output cable (RCA to RCA) from the Step-up output RCA Jack pair to
Moving Magnet Phonostage inputs using a short, low capacitance cable.
5. Connect a ground cable from the ground post on the Step-up to the ground post on
your Phonostage.
6. Set the ratio on the Step-up initially to 1:5 and load to O/C.
7. Turn on system and find ground-switch position resulting in lowest noise.
8. Play a record, setting the volume on the (pre)amplifier low to verify function.
9. Select the Step-up ratio and load for best sound with the specific cartridge.

Burn in
To obtain the very best results from the MC Step-up a period of “burn in” is necessary.
Simply put, this means you will find the sound of the unit improving over the first 100 hours
or so of use. If possible, we recommend the following procedure:
•Connect a line level source (CD player, tuner etc.) to the OUTPUT of the MC Step-
up.
•Connect the INPUT of the MC Step-up to an amplifier on a line level input.
•Set the ratio to 1:5
•Play music through the MC Step-up for 100 hours (using the amplifiers volume
control to set level)
NOTE: Extreme care should e taken, DO NOT CONNECT the source to the INPUT of
the MC Step-up and the amplifier to the OUTPUT. THIS WILL CAUSE SERIOUS
DAMAGE.
If you need further help or advice you can e-mail us at: [email protected]
Maintenance
The unit should be cleaned with a soft dry cloth. NEVER use abrasive cloths or cleaning
solution. For stubborn stains, slightly dampen the cloth with water.
Contacts and connecters can be cleaned with proprietary switch cleaners (Servisol etc.)
although the use of switch lubricants is not recommended.
Specification
Inputs Stereo unbalanced
Outputs Stereo unbalanced
Controls Ratio (3 position rotary switch)
Load (6 position rotary switch)
Grounding (3 position toggle switch)
WARNING
•In no event shall the manufacturer be liable for any damage, direct, indirect or
conse uential of any type or any expenses or losses resulting from the use of this
product.
•Contains no user serviceable parts, refer servicing to ualified personnel only.
•Do not expose the unit to moisture, excessive heat or cold.
•The contents of this manual are correct at the time of going to press.
•The manufacturer reserves the right to change the specification and features without
prior notice.

Addendum
The loading values of the MC Step up front panel refer to resistors on the on the
transformer secondary in order to give the maximum flexibility. This means they are
effected by the selected ratio and by the Phonostage's input impedance.
This is a table of loading values (in ohms) that a phono cartridge sees when selecting
various dummy load and transformer winding ratio combinations.
1:5 1:10 1:20
O/C 1880 470 117
80K 1180 295 73
40k 870 210 52
30k 733 183 45
20k 561 140 35
10k 330 82 20
(Note: O/C is open circuit. The cartridge will see the transformer’s load divided by the
transformer's ratio s uared (i.e. in the 1:10 ratio the cart will see the input impedance of
the phono stage (often 47k) divided by 100 (10 s uared) giving a load to the cartridge in
this example of 470ohms.)
It's possible for the MC Step up to be placed wherever you wish but we'd always
recommend the shortest possible signal path and use of shielded cables.