Time to Step Up
Meet the Sutherland SUTZ
Ron Sutherland didn't think the SUTZ would have a market. And then it found its people.
"I was floored," said Bob Gaines, a regular Upscale Audio customer, when he put a Sutherland SUTZ in his system. "Groove noise was drastically reduced, and there was suddenly a presence in the music that I hadn't felt before."
When we asked Ron Sutherland, designer and owner of Sutherland Engineering, about how the SUTZ might have made that happen, he said, with a chuckle, “I know so many designers and engineers who will give you explanations for that kind of stuff, and I am not one of them."
As an engineer, Ron understands the opinions of people who say that once you have a well-designed electronic audio product such as a phonostage, there's no reason why one should sound different from another. And he also understands that once you have good, solid engineering in place, you can "follow the sound” by experimenting with component changes.
"There’s no bling—I don’t waste your money," says Ron of the post-engineering process. "But some of the choices we make in component selection are really a kind of experiment."
If the sound gets better, Ron is not just happy to say that the reasons are beyond his ken, he insists on it.
But What Is the SUTZ?
The Sutherland SUTZ is a very special analog product that uses transimpedance amplification to raise the output of your moving coil cartridge to the level of a moving magnet cartridge. It does not perform any RIAA functions, it’s a straight gain only. Ron, who pronounces it "sutz" and "S.U.T.Z." interchangeably, explains that it stands for Step Up Transimpedance, with the Z being the symbol for impedance.
“I know so many designers and engineers who will give you explanations for that kind of stuff, and I am not one of them."
The SUTZ is based on the first gain stage of the flagship Sutherland Dos Locos transimpedance phonostage and shares the same chassis as the Little Loco Mk2. Thus, the SUTZ shares the same genius 'two boxes in one chassis' design you see in the photo above, which completely separates the power supply from the signal circuits.
Who Needs a SUTZ?
You have an MM phonostage that you know and love, but want to move up to an MC cartridge. Put the SUTZ in between your table and phonostage to get all the benefits of a low-output MC cartridge (making sure it's also low-Z), while keeping your beloved MM phonostage.
You have a low-output MC cartridge that you know and love, a vacuum tube MM/MC phonostage, and want to reduce tube noise. By putting a SUTZ between your table and the phonostage, you can now switch from the phonostage’s MC input to the MM input, taking advantage of the vastly lower gain needed for moving magnets. This reduces tube noise and lets you use circuits that offer greater tube life.
Why Not Use a Step-Up Transformer?
The SUTZ offers step-up transformer (SUT) functionality but with the benefits of an active transimpedance gain stage. Ron Sutherland has great respect for people who use SUTs, but recognizes that it’s extremely expensive and time-consuming to find the perfect match between cartridge and SUT that this technology demands. Then there’s more experimentation with load settings and step-up ratios, and also, SUTs have a long break-in during which their characteristics change.
The transimpedance nature of the active SUTZ means you don’t have to worry about cartridge matching. You just need a low-output moving coil cartridge with a low (<20 ohm) impedance. Most MC cartridges are well below this number, but as always, talk to our analog specialists first.
Since Ron won't speculate on what the SUTZ will do in your system, we turn back to Bob, the customer who just added it to his all-Upscale setup. The advantages are not, to his ear, just a result of lowering the noise floor. "There is clearly some added punch and a sense of dynamics that pair brilliantly with the euphonic tube glory of the PrimaLuna phonostage. I haven't yet upgraded the cartridge, but this is a sound that I am still finding surprises in, and that's exciting. I'm not going back!"
Ring Your (Tubular) Bell with PrimaLuna
Bob Gaines, the customer we quoted in the story above, talked about "the euphonic tube glory of the PrimaLuna phonostage," something that he did not want to lose as he upgraded his vinyl setup.
So, though he eventually found his sound with the Sutherland SUTZ and the MM circuit of the PrimaLuna, he has lived with and loved the PrimaLuna's 6922 MC stage and greatly enjoyed tube rolling. After all, PrimaLuna takes many steps to keep moving coil amplification noise as low as possible (including hiding away the MC gain tubes in "jail," a shielded compartment at the back of the unit), and is celebrated as one of the quietest all-tube designs available.
"Like many of your customers," says Bob, "I am hooked on the 'tube sound.'" Find out what it is that keeps Bob, Kevin, and so many of us totally in love with this vintage, yet completely relevant, technology. If vinyl makes sense to you, tubes probably will as well!
New Video: Rega's Nd Moving Magnet Cartridges with Kevin and Ari
In this special video, Kevin is joined by our dear friend Ari from Rega for an exclusive first look at the brand-new ND3, ND5, and ND7 cartridges. With over a decade spent on development, these cartridges promise to bring next-level performance to vinyl lovers everywhere.