Ok, the title of the post is a bit of play on words: HiFi Heroin is a website of fine audio constructeurs, one of which is Dave Slagle of Intact Audio.

Dave offers bespoke step-up transformers (SUTs) out of copper or silver with delicious nickel cores that are tailored specifically to bring out the best in your phono cartridge, and while not cheap, they don't cost an arm & a leg like some of the 'name' SUTs do.

I was looking for a for a SUT to bring out the best in my Ortofon SPU Classic GM MkII phono cartridge, and Our Man in Paris, Mark Donen, a man of particularly good taste, recommended Dave's bespoke SUTs to me.

So I contacted Dave and told him about wanting a SUT for my Ortofon SPU Classic GM MkII phono cartridge, to use with my vintage McIntosh MX110Z preamplifier-tuner, and he sent me one of his copper SUTs to try.

Dave's website says:

"I have a somewhat different approach to winding MC step-up transformers. My goal is a wide bandwidth well behaved device that is wound to match a specific cartridge to a specific gain structure. I use a substantial 80% nickel core that will not fit into the typical mumetal shielding cans so I came up with my own shielded enclosure fabricated from copper plated steel, mumetal and wormy maple. One variation on the finished look can be seen by clicking on the picture above. The basic design procedure takes into account the internal impedance and the output voltage of your cartridge and sizes the turns ratio to match needs of your overall gain structure. More info on the selection process can be seen HERE. If your needs change in the future, the enclosure can be fitted with new transformers for a small cost."

I'll tell you what, Dave's SUT sounds like a million bucks with my Ortofon SPU Classic GM MkII phono cartridge & vintage McIntosh MX110Z preamplifier-tuner.

Mark was right-on about Dave's bespoke SUTs, and I'm going to buy the one Dave sent me to try, unless of course I like the silver one better that he's sending me to try. Yes, I'm an audio SlUT. 😉

Anyways, I just wanted to give a shout out to Dave for his terrific bespoke SUTs, and if you're looking for a SUT I recommend you get in touch with him, and you'll be glad you did.

What's playing right now? Dex's Our Man In Paris, of course. Oh by the way, that's the Yazaki-san modded McIntosh MC30 monaural amplifiers on the rack playing music right now. Really, really, a good combination of gear.

Many thanks to Mark Donen for telling me about Dave's SUTs, and thanks to Dave for making such a terrific product at a fair price.

Thanks for stopping by!