MC loading at 47K

Long time ago when i bought my first hi-fi phono stage i didn’t know about loading. There was just one switch between mm and mc, later i realized it was just a gain switch, but the load was 47k for both (low and high output cartridges). Guess what phono stage it was?

It was $500 Grado PH-10 phono stage. The reason for no optional loading was obvious (all Grado carts are MI). I was using MC with that phono stage and it was just fine for LOMC.

My secong phono stage was much more expensive (about $2k), but also with no optional loading on MC input, because two SUTs inside the phono stage :) This is still the best phono stage (WLM Phonata ref.) when i need the deepest bass, nothing can beat it in low register for some reason.

Using JLTi at the moment i like 47k for MC, not for all of them, but for most of them (low impedance MC). I can use whatever load resistors with JLTi, i’m using low value resistors only if the cartridge is too bright, but it rarely happens. For open sound 47k Ohm is the best.

Regarding the Uber’s question i think the loading from 100 Ohm to 47k Ohm on my Gold Note phono stage is irrelevant for my FR-7fz. Only when i’m using lower value (for experiment) the sound became rolled off and not interesting in my system. Anything from 100 Ohm to 47k Ohm is good, i can’t detect a big difference with this particular FR-7fz cartridge. However, ZYX CPP-1 headamp does some magic with the same cart, it’s better with ZyX headamp in between FR-7fz and Gold Note phono stage (in MM mode).

Ortofon MC2000 directly connected to Gold Note was fine loaded at 47k or lower.

I think 47k Ohm is pretty much universal for most of my LOMC

Very interested indeed.
I had read a lot about 47k loading for lomc and was real fired up for it to work, so you could say I even had some expectation bias for it to sound good.

But after numerous listening sessions with,numerous carts ( and as you know the change on Goldnote is instant so real easy to tell, no memory thing) it just did not cut it for me.

Maybe in my case it is the sum of everything else, cables etc.

Right now running Nagaoka MP150 so not going to experiment again anytime soon. But I tried enough to say just in my system, my carts, my ears it was not optimal loaded at 47k.

Well, as Ralph explained many times it's all about the phono stage. 
And probably a cartridge impedance

P.S. sadly you can't try your nagaoka MM with 100k ohm

Correct Chakster but as we have the same phono stage and get differing results it has to be something else.
My carts, my total system or my ears! LOL.

 I was thinking last night that results might to some degree depend upon the input capacitance of the first gain stage in your phono section. Both of my phono stages use a cascode input. In a cascode, the gain element that receives the incoming signal is isolated from the anode of a completely discreet separate gain element via a direct connection between the anode of the input tube and the cathode of a second tube. therefore there is very little or none of what is called  Miller capacitance. (Both tubes and transistors exhibit the phenomenon of developing a capacitance between the anode of a tube and the grid. Also between cathode and grid to a lesser degree..) And a transistor has analogous nodes. So if you are using a phono stage with a 12AX7 input tube, for example, The miller capacitance can be quite high, because it is in part a function of the mu which for a 12AX7 is very high. Cartridges connected to the grid of a 12AX7 in a common cathode topology would possibly do better with lower value load resistors. All of the above applies to triodes. Not many tube phono stages use pentodes anyway. Of course, you should keep the cable capacitance as low as possible also.