FR, I had the Auditorium A23 at home for a few weeks. It was sent to me by a friend who wanted to get my opinion, probably because at the time I was playing around with the SPU Royal N and various Denon 103s of one form or another on my Loricraft Garrard/Aro deck, and the A23 was designed to suit. It was good, but there were issues, especially in the lower frequencies, with a rather soft and loose bass I felt, so wasn’t really for me. In some ways I wish I had had the Puresound P10 around at the time as it may have been a better combination than with the Naim MM stages.
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It’s not going to win any beauty prizes!
I was looking at it because it was considered among the best. But at 4k, without trying possibility, I finally not went in that way.
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Thanks for the replies everyone.
I’m really not an inveterate box swapper, I ran my old vinyl system (Systemdek and NAIT3 with internal MM cards) for a couple of decades before changing it. My new Technics/DV10x5/Graham Slee Accession sounds great. I’m just toying with using the changeable headshell arrangement of the Technics to give me an MC option. I’m not sure how often I’d swap between them, or even if I would swap between them after experiencing the difference a higher spec MC brings over my 10x5.
MC wise I’m thinking of trying to listen to a Lyra Delos and DV XX-2.
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I’ve been giving SUTs some thought too as it would give flexibility for second cartridge and I keep hearing how well they’d suit my SPUs.
I have a superline for my primary cartridge and a stageline N with a Decca.
The effect of the SUT on cartridge loading, ignoring losses in the transformer, is to divide the input impedance of the phono stage (usually 47k for an MM stage) by the square of the turns ration so that a 10:1 passes on a 470Ω load to the cartridge, a 20:1, gives 117.5Ω, and so on. The effect on capacitance is where I think it comes unstuck as the capacitance seen by the cartridge ithe phono stage’s plus that of the cable from SUT to stage all squared, for a stgeline N that’s quite high at 470pF even before adding the cable. Recent Naim phonostages in the Nait 50 etc have a more SUT friendly input capacitance of around 100pF and without checking I’d expect the Grahame Slees to be similarly SUT friendly.
On head amps I’m somewhat intrigued by the transimpedance ones that are cropping up recently, like the Sutherland Engineering SUTZ recently reviewed in Stereophile, but so far I’ve only seen them available outside Europe and the price could buy another superline.
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Thanks for that, appreciate the information!
I thought capacitance “doesn’t matter” for MC cartridges though? Or does it, just not as much as it does for MMs?
The GS Accession has DIP switches to adjust input capacitance, 100pF, 220pF or 320pF
It certainly matters, a lot. Especially at the upper end of the frequency spectrum, so I guess some people might not be able to hear it any more.
If you google “hagerman cartridge loading” you’ll find an interesting article with calculator. Just play a bit with the values of different carts and capacitances to see what happens to the frequency response.
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I need to read the top hits for that search again, in a quiet dark room X)
Is it specifically the impact a SUT has on a MC cartridge you’re referring to (and as Yeti mentions)?
Sorry, I misread your post. I was indeed talking about MM, not MC as you were asking.
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The article I suspect we’re all reading does say the use of a SUT “greatly lowers” the resonant frequency for MC cartridges. I’ll book myself into a dark room to read it and play with the numbers properly 
Thanks for reminding me about what to search for too!
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I was also intrigued until I heard the Sutherland TZ Direct, imagine all the details and finesse of MC cartridges with the heft and drive of MMs, all in one package and without the guesswork and complexity. Now that I’m convinced, what intrigues me is why aren’t transimpedance phono preamps more popular, I guess people prefer to stick to their old ways instead of being receptive.
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Reading the descriptions, it sounds like transimpedence is exactly what the Dynavector P75 in Phono Enhancing mode is doing? Presenting a short to the cartridge and using the current generated by the MC cartridge vs voltage. So whilst not popular, there is more than one manufacturer doing it? 
@Yeti - I think at least one of the cheaper Sutherland stages offers a taste of the transimpedence tech in their more expensive offerings (the TZ Vibe, $1400), if I read their website correctly. Plus as far as I can make out the DV P75 (£750 odd) in PE mode is acting the same way
The technology has been out there for decades, Sutherland Engineering’s has more recently pushed the boundaries with success but still a long way from becoming widely known, which is a shame because the sound is amazing.
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I did this for years with zero issues from hum, etc. (my SUT was a Denon AU320 with flying cables, so one less set of RCAs).
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