Cartridge incompatibility, Soundsmith and Luxman
I have a Soundsmith Zephyr MIMC Star cartridge that sound really amazing, but I just changed to a Luxman L-590AXII and the gain and loading is fixed.
Output/loading for cartridge: 0.4mV, recommended load resistance 470 ohm
Input sensitivity/impedence for the amp: 0.3mV, 100 ohm
The gain should be ok, but the load is way off and you can clearly hear it. The highs are rolled off and I need to crank up the volume to be acceptable level.
So here's the question... what cartridge would work in this setup? Would love to keep the Soundsmith, but I'm not going to add SUT with additional cables and all that complexity.
@atmasphere Yes, MC setting. The load is not variable however, I think this is what's causing the issue.
@russ69 Which then means yet another piece of equipment, another set of phono cables (Cardas Clear Beyond sounds amazing, but they're not inexpensive...). Completely defeats the purpose of going with an integrated to simplify things... |
Dea @audiojan : I think that before you pull the trigger for a different cartridge put in contact with Luxman and ask if exist a posibility that they can change the impedance to 400-500 ohms. You can try and maybe find out the solution.
Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS, R. |
I can't recommend a particular cartridge but the right outboard phono preamp will give you the adjustments you need to keep your current cartridge or any future cartridge. Perhaps a high output MC will work better for you. Personally I would not have a low output MC without an outboard phono preamp. Talk to your dealer or the manufacturer about matching a cartridge to your amp. |
