Phono Preamp loading for Hanna EL

I tried various settings.  A bit over 400 seems the best in my system.  Some people seem to like it at 1000 though.

But it may be a little too hot or edgy on top. If so this is called ringing, only in this case its electrical, and reduced by loading the cartridge down with a lower impedance

@millercarbon  This statement is only true if its a high output cartridge. The EL is low output and ringing is not why it can sound bright. Ringing at audio frequencies is not a problem with low output cartridges.


The reason is RFI generated by the inductance of the cartridge in parallel with the capacitance of the tonearm cable. This creates a resonant peak which could be a few 100KHz up to a couple of MHz. The peak (which can be 30dB!) is driven into excitation by the energy of the cartridge (it does not have to be at the peak's resonant frequency to do so) and if the preamp doesn't like RFI at its input, it can sound bright (and may generate ticks and pops that sound for all the world as if they are on the surface of the LP, but are actually the result of overload).

The recommended loading is only an approximation. This is because the cable capacitance can't be known in advance. If the preamp is designed with the understanding that there will be a peak at its input in the manner described, no loading will be needed as it will not sound bright. 47K is actually a standard in this regard.


This all goes out the window if a high output cartridge is used. In such a case the inductance is high enough that the resonant peak is much lower in frequency (and usually also in amplitude) and the cartridge can also ring at audio frequencies- this requires that to operate properly, the cartridge will have to see some sort of load. For more seehttp://www.hagtech.com/loading.html

I use mine at between 400 and 475 and I think that range is the ideal range for the hana el. It sounds, at least to me, more balanced at those settings. I’d go by the 10x internal impedance as a reference point, which happens to be 30 ohms. I would save 47k ohms for a high output MC or MM. The hana el is the bargain of the century in phono cartridges imo. Alnico magnets, excellent tracker, low output moving coil, and beautiful to look at, all for $475. I’m sure the SL and the ML are fantastic as well, but to me this el is the treasure of the bunch and blows away anything at the price.

The hana el is the bargain of the century in phono cartridges imo. Alnico magnets, excellent tracker, low output moving coil, and beautiful to look at, all for $475. I’m sure the SL and the ML are fantastic as well, but to me this el is the treasure of the bunch and blows away anything at the price.

One of my employees uses that cartridge and loves it. Tracks anything on his Triplanar.