By the way, I don't think cost is a factor in achieving the lowest possible phono input impedance, if that is the primary goal ahead of performance. I also see that I earlier already suggested that the BMC MCCI affords a 4-ohm impedance. I am not certain that is correct, but there is one out there. MCCI is quite low, though. Meantime, I am waiting for someone to jump on my hypothesis about the effect of load resistance on the capacity of a cartridge to trace HF. (This has nothing to do with current drive vs voltage drive.) I'm pretty sure I am off the mark.
Cartridge loading
Presently I am using a ZU/Denon DL103 mc cartridge with ZU Audio's highest tolerances. I had this cartridge mounted on my VPI Prime and after going through all the various loading combinations, I settled on 200 ohms. I was always satisfied with my choice of setting. I no longer have the Prime and now use the Technics SL1200G turntable. After having the same cartridge mounted and aligned by the dealer, I inserted it into my system and enjoyed the sound immensely, never touching the 200 ohm setting.
Yesterday I was listening to vinyl most of the day and for some reason I found the sound to be better than ever, mostly in the treble area. The highs had shimmer when needed and I had played the same records many times before on the Prime and they never sounded as good as they did yesterday. Just for the heck of it, I checked the cartridge loading and found it was now set at 1000 ohms. As I said, when I put the Technics into the system, I never bothered changing the loading which was at 200 ohms as it was the same cartridge, just a different turntable.
I believe I know what happened, when I last used the tone controls on my McIntosh preamp, (you have to shuffle through a menu) I must have inadvertently put the cartridge loading at 1000 ohms. It truly sounds fantastic, better than I ever thought possible. The Bass is still very deep and taut, midrange is the same but the treble, oh my, so much better. Now the million dollar question is why should it now sound better at 1000 ohms, when it sounded great before at 200 ohms? Can the tonearm on the Technics have an effect on cartridge loading? I always thought it was all dependent on the preamp, amp and speakers. What am I missing here? I am very curious to know. The specs for my cartridge say greater than 50 ohms for loading.
Thanks
Yesterday I was listening to vinyl most of the day and for some reason I found the sound to be better than ever, mostly in the treble area. The highs had shimmer when needed and I had played the same records many times before on the Prime and they never sounded as good as they did yesterday. Just for the heck of it, I checked the cartridge loading and found it was now set at 1000 ohms. As I said, when I put the Technics into the system, I never bothered changing the loading which was at 200 ohms as it was the same cartridge, just a different turntable.
I believe I know what happened, when I last used the tone controls on my McIntosh preamp, (you have to shuffle through a menu) I must have inadvertently put the cartridge loading at 1000 ohms. It truly sounds fantastic, better than I ever thought possible. The Bass is still very deep and taut, midrange is the same but the treble, oh my, so much better. Now the million dollar question is why should it now sound better at 1000 ohms, when it sounded great before at 200 ohms? Can the tonearm on the Technics have an effect on cartridge loading? I always thought it was all dependent on the preamp, amp and speakers. What am I missing here? I am very curious to know. The specs for my cartridge say greater than 50 ohms for loading.
Thanks
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- 190 posts total
Hey Lew. It appears as if this guy has a good take on what is going on with the 0Ω http://phonoclone.com/diy-pho4.html I quickly simmed the circuit and it appears as if the input Z is frequency dependent and around 0.001Ω @ 10hz and increases by a factor of 10 for every decade which puts it at 1Ω @ 10khz and 10Ω @ 100khz. how you translate this into an easy to understand input impedance for the masses is not an easy task. Is 0Ω 100% accurate? no... but for the majority of the audio band it is close. Just try to explain a frequency dependent variable to a group used to values being ruler flat form 20-20K. In the end I do not think there is anything disingenuous with the claims but once taken out of the context of being an audio generalization for the masses it does become problematic. dave |
@lewm ;: I re-read your post and your hypotesis is only that and I doubt some one can " jump " here to confirm your hypotesis that can " impede it " . """ wonder whether the load resistor might affect the magnitude of that phenomenon. """ I can see that you like to make all more " complicated " when the issue posted by atmasphere was diferent to what you posted and I can't understand why not we can go step by step: why add more " phenomenos " to the main issue. I wonder why? Anyway, you are free to post what ever you want. R. |
- 190 posts total