1000 ohms really opens it up...wider sound stage, greater 3D effect (Etna)
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- 13 posts total
sm2727, If you go on Lyra site, J Carr has specific recommended range for each (I think) cart. Many people believe like Atmasphere, the higher the better. I've found this is preamp specific, and I suspect more true with tubes (also Herron)? With my AHT it gets more dynamic at 47K and more focused as resistance is lowered. There should be no change in FR. If you get noise go lower. Regards, |
If you ask J Carr about loading, you will find that he says the same thing that I do. What is happening is the cartridge inductance interacts with the tone arm cable capacitance to form a tuned Radio Frequency (RF) circuit. It resonates when energized by the cartridge itself. This causes ultrasonic or RF energy to be injected into the input of the preamp. If the preamp is stable with such energy you will hear no effect from loading. If the preamp is unstable and reacts poorly to such energy, the loading resistor is then used to detune the tank circuit (another way of saying 'resonant circuit') and thus it sounds better with the loading. I have tested many LOMC cartridges- when you 'ring' them with a squarewave and then test to see what a loading resistor does to the squarewave, you see that it has absolutely no effect whatsoever at audio frequencies. Its all happening at much higher frequencies. IOW, if loading sounds better it means the phono preamp is unstable. You might want to read this thread in which J Carr is quite active: http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?15077-Cartridge-Loading-A-Misnomer I met up with Jonathan at the Munich show last year and we had a conversation about this- and touched on the fact that loading the cartridge might well have a negative effect on its ability to track. He touches on this in the opening post of thread at the link. |
Hi Sean, As everyone else said here, start at 100 ohms. I found that the MC carts of the last decade like to be loaded as high as 500 ohms, some even at 1K. It all depends on and boils down to what the system calls for, your taste, and the tonal spectral balance you are after. Afterall, audiophilia is a crazy and personal thing. I strive for a balanced, neutral and natural balance, out of the way of music with all my systems. Make sure you give those settings/resistors a bit of time to break-in before you decide that one choice is definite. I've been in this hobby for 25 years, designed and built electronics. I hope this helps. Best regards, Dan |
- 13 posts total