... more Tango... MCT-999 revamped!

Years ago I had a Tango MCT-999 moving coil transformers/step-up and... well, NOW I understand I didn't listen to it, actually.

I listened to - say - a 60 percent of its merits, it was pleasant BUT not the ultimate in resolution and transparency... maybe guilty was the awful Japanese building, looooong crappy cables inside and that 0,0005 cents 4 steps selector.

Water passed under the bridges and I re-tried with a new pair I found in Japan some months ago, BUT this time I followed Daniele Ansaloni's great tips and suggestions on building and cables quality and layout.

Also Marco Benedetti, who owns both Peerless 4685 and Tango MCT-999, preferred Tango's and he also applied Daniele's hints...

... oh, oh?!?!

Am I deaf?

Why, WHY I always preferred WE 618B and Peerless 4685 over MC-999... now, nor Marco neither Daniele owns and use a Lumiere DST, with its 2 ohm and 0,3 mV needs, but nonetheless I took my time to re-try Tango...

What can I say? I was wrong, period!

Honestly I didn't fully understood the great musicality and the incredible resolution the MCT-999 is able to give to the discerning listener.

Yesterday evening I had first listenings with Tango's in the analog chain and I almost fell from my lounge chair:-)

The character was... hell, IS:-) in the VERY same vein of my cherished Western Electric 618B: no exagerated rendering, no hyper-detailing, BUT only the truest soul of the music... resolution is very, very high, BUT in a different way than my also beloved Peerless 4685 or 4611... the detailing is relaxed, ambient noises are not sort-of "added" to music and musicians playing... everything is embedded and nicely organized into the music and part of it, including recording venue and musicians lively presence...

Must say I had to repeat the listening swapping two times from Tango to 618B to 4685 to Tango, again... sure the HUGE improvement I had after inserting the Mayer's LCR/passive crossover, with its incredible seldom heard silence-among-the-notes... well, this helped in better understanding what was going on.

Many thanks from my heart to Daniele for his always well informed opinions and to Marco Benedetti for someway "pushing" me again toward MCT-999... and to my friend Franz (from Italy, not Austria:-)) for great building and care on this apparently easy and humble project...

As you see from the (ugly) pixes, I choose a dadaist green colour - also nicely matching with my XLO Phono Reference cable:-) - for the Hammond's alu box and, as usually, Cardas Rhodium RCAs.

The King is naked, folks and, humbly said, I was wrong... let's shout "Hoooray!" for the Tango MCT 999.