Benz micro glider cartridge loading advice needed.

@judsauce @quincy 

Absolute phase.

Think of it this way - 

If you have cone speakers and absolute phase is correct the drivers first inpetus is to push out and then back as the signal is applied.

If the absolute phase is reversed the cones first inpetus is to suck in instead of out when the first signal is applied.

When the absolute phase is correct with cone speakers I generally hear a more natural sound, when it is wrong I generally hear a slightly flattened soundstage, and at worst slight compression in the mids.

With electrostatics such as @lewm runs, his speakers, unlike most  cone speakers, are pushing sound both frontwards and backwards so the effect is less apparent.

The problem with Conrad preamps is that most of them invert absolute phase in the line stage, so you simply reverse the + and - connections at the speaker.

However if you have a phono stage that inverts phase ( and the line stage does not ) then you can't reverse the + and - at the speaker because the CD or digital will then be out of absolute phase. In this case the best solution is to reverse the + and - connections on the cartridge for each channel.

Here’s a way to think of it. No one is “using” phase inversion. It’s simply a fact that some gain topologies invert the phase of the incoming signal, and some don’t. Designers choose a gain topology based on their personal beliefs about how to realize maximum gain, linearity, bandwidth, etc, with lowest distortion, regardless of how their choices affect the phase of the amplified output signal with respect to the input signal that must be amplified (and for phono, which must be RIAA filtered in the process). Then they inform the end user that the circuit “inverts phase”. That means input vs output. I personally think it’s a tempest in a teapot for most of us. If you’re as sensitive to absolute phase as Dover, there’s a 50-50 chance you’ll prefer the phase inverted output to a non-inverted signal, for a given track on a given LP. Because the phase characteristics of recorded material are all over the place. But if you want to worry, I’d look for a preamp or phono stage with a “phase” switch, unless you enjoy crawling on the floor to swap speaker wires or, god forbid, swapping cartridge connections for every track.

@dover ​​​

@lewm 

Thank you both for extremely informative and well written posts. It totally shines a light on a subject I knew very little about. I'm going to have to normal up the leads on my cart for my new phono preamp. I don't look forward to it. I first inverted the leads years ago for my SFP1 preamp, but I did it before I set up the cartridge for the table. This time I'm going to swap and normal up the leads while the cart is still on the arm. Wish me luck! 🙄

Thanks again 

If you read my last post carefully, you will see that on of my points is that although you may swap speaker leads, etc, to create a situation where the phase of the output signal from your preamplifier is the same as the phase of the input, that alone is no guarantee that you have "solved" the issue for once and for all. This is a consequence of the variability of recordings with respect to phase, which is to say (again) that for some recordings, reversing the phase of the input signal is may be preferred, for those who can hear any difference in the first place. The first thing you might want to do is to experiment back and forth with a single recording to establish whether phase makes any audible difference to you in your system in your room. (The listening room probably also plays a role in how easily one can discern an effect of changing absolute phase.)

@dover

@lewm

Thanks for the extended explanation!

At the end of the day it's the call of the designers of the particular equipment!