A Pair of Hashimoto HM-3 MC Step-Up transformers for Denon Ortofon Cartridge

Description

FOR SALE
A Pair of
New MC Cartridge Step-Up transformers
HM-3 (1:20 or 1:40 Amplification)
from Hashimoto Electric Co., Ltd.
Tokyo, Japan
With 21st Technologies
Based  on 60 years of Sansui Experiences
Introducing the Hashimoto HM-3:
The  Hashimoto HM-3 step-up transformer is designed squarely aimed at high-end low  output MC cartridges; such as Ortofon products, at the 1:40amplification  ratio.  The HM-3 can also be set for mid range output level cartridges such as, Denon products, at the 1:20 amplification ratio.
The  sound of the HM-3 is simply amazing.  The sonic information is extremely rich,  three dimensional, not only very wide in right and left, but I can hear the  height as well as the depth of instrument positions.  The sound quality is very  much Hashimoto Sound, which is engineered to be as close to real music as  possible.
The  reference amplifiers for sound engineering at Hashimoto are highly fine-tuned  and modified Sansui AU-Alpha907 Limited and AU-Alpha607 MOS Limited by Mr.  Ohshima at Aqua Audio Lab who was a manager at Sansui for the high-end amplifier  department from the early 1980?s to 2000.  Thus, all Hashimoto tube transformers  follow the sound characteristics of high-end Sansui, and further engineered to  be more vivid and realistic (
Please refer to our Hashimoto Transformer  Technical Aspects page for more details on technical issues as well as  Hashimoto Product Design Philosophy.
).
The  very unique aspect of the HM-3 is that you can use it for either high-end  transistor amps or tube amp system with MM cartridge inputs.  I have tested the  HM-3 with an Ortofon MC-20 cartridge on Sansui AU-111 Integrated Tube Amplifier  (1964), Sansui AU-919 (1978), Sansui AU-X701 (1986), Sansui AU-Alpha907MRX  (1994), and my home made 300B SE with Hashimoto PT-270, C-10-200W, H-20-3.5U  (2005).  As the results, I have discovered that the HM-3 tends to reveal more  about the characteristics of amplifiers than SACD or DVDA software does.  This  is as if putting a high performing race car motor in different chassis; very  revealing, but you can expect the maximum performance of your own system.
The HM-3 measures 58 (W) x 52 (D) x 55  (H) mm, and weighs 0.5Kg (1.1 LB).  The core of the HM-3 consists of  Permalloy C (Super Permalloy) with triple copper shields potted in the special  pitch.  The frequency range is 15 to 50,000Hz -1dB with 12 Ohms (Serial) or  3 Ohms (Parallel) Primary, and the 4.7K Ohms secondly  loads.  The amplification ratios can be switched between 1:20 (26dB) and 1:40  (32dB) by  connecting two primary windings in serial or parallel.  The recommended  secondary impedance is 47K Ohms.
Here are example photos of MC  Step-Ups using the HM-3 (If you are interested in finished step-up units like these,  please let us know.  The black and silver models on the left two photos,  "Live! MC-10" are now for sale on eBay.  Please visit our eBay Store.).
Here is a comment
for our step-up unit, "Live! MC-10"
from
one of our European customers,
After burning in the transformer for some hours I must tell you  this: The curtain is up!
Now your transformer sounds detailed, dynamical, with rich tone (but not  coloring), sweet, has a huge soundstage, with full precise bass, ... - just  great congratulations
After all the comparison with other transformers in different chains we have  madeall the people listening are sure that this is (one of) the best  transformers available today.
We have tried the transformer in different chains with electrostatic speakers  (Quad 66), dualconcentric speakers (Tannoy GRF and others), home made high  efficiency speakers. In most cases we used the Ortofon SPU Synergy Pick Up and  different preamps, vintage and new ones.
We have  compared it with the Audiotechnica AT-800 OCC, Denon AU-320, Ortofon SPU T-100,  Mr. Aschenbrenner's "little" SPU-Transformer from Auditorium 23, (unfortunately  we could not make a direct comparison with Tamura?s/ sun audio but earlier tests  rated the Audio Technica, higher than the sun audio so we assume that yours is  superior)  And now all participants are sure that this is the reference for  today's transformers.
Who is Hashimoto Electric anyway?   Hashimoto is by-no-means a new comer in this very traditional, but exciting  industry.  Hashimoto Electric, Ltd., in Tokyo Japan has been a long-time Sansui  transformer OEM (since 1960?s).  Hashimoto merged Sansui?s transformer business  in 1978, and Hashimoto was the company who reproduced the AU-111 transformers  when Sansui reissued the famed AU-111 in 1999 as the AU-111 Vintage.  As a  matter of fact, Hashimoto is the only company that still carries the original  Sansui logo on its product lines, and some of Hashimoto?s key engineers are  ex-Sansui engineers.
Today, Hashimoto Electric produces not  only various traditional transformers that Sansui pioneered many years ago, but  also high-end tube amp transformers under its own brand name.  The amazing  thing is that all Hashimoto transformers are still handcrafted one-by-one by  very skilled and experienced employees (Please refer to the actual photos  I took when visited Hashimoto last June).
Because some of Hashimoto engineers have  more than 40 years of transformer designing experiences through out Sansui and  Hashimoto era, all Hashimoto transformers
still  maintain the superior characteristics and sound of Sansui transformers
.  In addition,
all Hashimoto transformers are redesigned from the ground up.  This means  that Hashimoto transformers are the 21st Century products that have been  fine-tuned with computer aided programs and have utilized new materials that  were simply not available forty some years ago.  As the result, the HM-3 is one of the leading Hashimoto products that have been winning  reputations among critics as, "
The sound through  Hashimoto transformers simply belongs to a different class compared with that of  competitions.
"
Who are we?  We are a Michigan based  corporation being in the IT related business since the early 1990's.  We  have been exploring the web based business opportunities since 2002, and today  we are the authority of Sansui literatures with more than 1,000 customers.   Almost all of our Sansui literature business have been conducted through web  space for the last three years.  Now, we are expanding our horizon into the  hi-fi hardware business by introducing the best products available in the world.   Because our business is entirely based on the web space, our priority is nothing  but the customer satisfaction and customer support.  Please purchase our  products with confidence.