I am considering purchasing a Helikon cartridge...

I am using the Helikon with ARC PH2 and LS25.
With a little patience, it will reward you with superb performance, but as Futterman indicated, you need to give it at least 100-200 hours.

For a richer tonal balance (without losing air and definition) try loading at 100 ohms.

I do not quite agree with Gmorris above. Through the Aesthetics IO, as well as the Jadis and through electrostatic speakers, I found that you in fact lose quite a bit of air und definition at 100 ohms. I personally settled for 47k. But you must definitely let your own ears decide and as Gmorris indirectly suggests, it pays to experiment.

The recommended loading of 100 ohms was specifically for the ARC PH2/PH3/SE and LS25 combo. As you indicated, results will vary depending on the system, personal preference, etc.

The Jadis/Aesthetics combo has a warmer tonal balance (IMO) than an ARC PH2/3 and LS25 front end. The ARC combo tends to be more neutral (leaner to some) sounding in the midrange. This difference in tonal balance, presumably, leads to the different loading preferences.

Just a follow up folks....I got my Helikon installed and I am enjoying it quite a lot! Yes it is a bit "hot" as you all suggested so I will be patience. However, I can alredy hear a hugh differnece between it and my Benz m2.....BTW i have it loaded still al 47 ohms....will experiment in a few.....and the PH3se has plenty of gain!!!

Thanks all for your help (Thanks Jack!)