Can anybody define LOW OUTPUT...?

I would not get hung up on the terms High/Mid/Low output. It is like trying to define what is really meant by "low fat" on product labels.

I doubt any audio designer ponders very much about how a design will be classified in the market place (low/med/high). It is low or high to them.

The matching with/to the desired phono preamp will matter more in the long run. This is not hard to do. There are great sounding cartridges at all output levels.

Is the Troica's output really that low?

As a rough guage, IMO only and YMMV,
Low < 0.4mv
Med 0.4 - 1.x mv
Hi >2mv

What's more important is the matching of the cart's output to the phono's gain.

For the low output MCs, gain required is approx >60db, med output you could get by with >50db, and the high output require about >40db.

I maybe wrong, so if someone else can shed more light, pls go ahead.

This actually has a very real application (believe it or not). I'm going to pack it in with my preamp phono stage if 0.1mV is FAR lower than something I end up buying. So - if the 'low end' - or, in other words, what most designers AIM for is above 0.25mV then I probably need to find my game somewhere else.

thanks for the input, though!
Jonathan

If that phono stage is really designed for the Linn Troika then it should be presenting a load of 560 Ohms and has maybe 70 dB of gain. You are right that this is more gain than many moving coils need, but it's hard to guess without knowing the component specifications a little better whether this will overload the complete chain (phono-line-amp-speakers-room) when driven by a cartridge with 5 times the output.

Even if not overloading the system, you may not be in a very sweet spot on the volume control - too much volume at very low settings.

There are a few moving coil cartridges that also have a very low output like the Troika, although I can't think of them off hand. What about a Troika?

Can you try the cartridge you are considering before you commit?

Regards,

Thank you very much for your considered response... I think this is getting me closer to deciding whether to commit to a troika or try something else and change my phono stage out for something else (luckily my preamp (naim) uses different interchangeable boards for the phono stage. I just wanted to know how much of a problem this might be. Another pickup I was considering was a vdH - at around 0.5-0.6mV.

What IS interesting is that I'd be willing to bet that using an overly sensitive phono stage would CONSIDERABLY change what I'll call the 'electrical profile' of the signal being sent to the power amp (impedance, etc...). I wonder how audible the difference would be.

Jonathan