OWNER’S MANUAL MODEL ZP3 REV. DATE 2/2016
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ZMC Step Up Transformer operation is somewhat unique. Rather than worry about
having the right capacitors or resistors on the phono stage for moving coil cartridge
loading, we have installed a knob that allows you to load the cartridge “on the fly” while
you are listening to music. This way you can achieve ideal cartridge loading by ear. To
use it simply turn the control all the way down until you hear no sound. Then slow raise
it like a volume control until you reach the point in the rotation where the volume stops
increasing. This is the ideal loading point. Then from that point (usually around 3/4 or
higher) you can tweak the level above or below to effect changes in how your cartridge
sounds.
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One good use for this, is when you want to over damp your cartridge to take the
ringing or sibilance out of the sound. For example, you might have your tone arm
height (VTA) set perfectly for a thick 200 gram record, but you want to play one side of
a skinny LP without having to go through the trouble of re-adjusting your VTA. So
normally you just play the record, but being skinny, the angle of the tonearm drops and
the cartridge no longer tracks perfectly resulting in a harshness in the top end.
Lowering the VTA would fix this, but then as soon as the record is over you would have
raise the VTA to the previous setting. With a ZMC, you can simply over damp the
cartridge making is less resolute in the top end making the record listenable without
the VTA adjustment.
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An ideal output level from a moving coil cartridge used with a ZMC Step Up
Transformer would be around 0.2 milivolts or higher.
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Both the ZMC Step Up Transformer and the ZP3 have the ability to handle many times
the voltage possible from any cartridge making higher output cartridges play with zero
distortion and bone cracking dynamics.
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GAIN
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The ZP3 has apron 43dB of gain for use with moving magnet cartridges. The ZMC
step up transformers add around 20dB for use with moving coil cartridges.
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