The Muffsy Phono Preamp is, and will continue to be an MM phono stage. Moving magnet and moving coil cartridges require different operational amplifiers, so a combination of MM and MC is not feasible at this size and price point.
Until now, the only way to use the Muffsy with moving coil cartridges has been to use a step-up transformer or a separate head amp (of which there aren't many around). Now that's about to change!
The Muffsy MC Head Amp is a very high quality amplification stage that brings the MC signal up to MM levels, and it goes between your turntable and the Muffsy Phono Preamp (or indeed any MM phono stage).
The design goals for the Muffsy MC Head Amp have been:
- Dual mono topology
- Signal-to-Noise ratio above 70 dB
- Variable input impedance
- DC servo to eliminate input/output capacitors
- Gain of 24.6. 0.3 mV input gives 5 mV output / 0.5 mV gives 8.5 mV out
- Same great PCB quality as the other Muffsy products
- The Muffsy MC Head Amp will fit in a B0905 enclosure together with the Muffsy PSU
- Easy and understandable build documentation
I've been running the latest prototype with an Ortofon MC30 Supreme for quite a while now, and the Muffsy MC Head Amp is brilliant. It's absolutely dead quiet and offers the same pitch black silent background, the great soundstage together with the rich and revealing sound that the Muffsy Phono Preamp is known for.
Be on the lookout for the Muffsy MC Head Amp very soon. Here's some more information about the project from the very beginning: https://hackaday.io/project/12483-muffsy-mc-head-amp
