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What effect does cartridge loading have on sound?

I just bought a grown up turntable (VPI HW19 w/ Souther Linear tracking arm)to replace my trusty old Dual 616Q. It came with a cartridge labelled "Souther," which the seller believed to be a moving coil unit made by Benz. The thing is I am running it through the phono section of my 20 year old Harman Kardon receiver, which has no provision for changing resistive loading or capacitance, and says it is for MM only. Oddly enough, the system sounds pretty good. What I'm wondering is what effect changing the loading has on the sound. I thought MCs were supposed to have loading at around 200 ohm, and MM 45K ohm.
honest1
nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
Major upgrade!! Well, at the moment you have a "mystery cartridge" but I'm sure you could research its particulars -- besides here and Google, try asking on Audio Asylum.

I wonder if it's a Clearaudio Wood MM cart. It would have to be a MM cart or (very unlikely,) a high output MC cart to drive the HK phonosection. If it is a MM cart (and I'm 99% sure it is) then you don't need to adjust loading, they all operate at 47Kohms which you HK has by default. MM carts ARE sensitive to capacitance, but if it sounds good leave it alone.
honest1 OP
586 posts
 
Thanks for your response. It's definitely not wood,it's a solid shiny black color, metal or plastic. The store that sold it to me got it on trade form the person they sold it to years ago, so I wouldn't completely dismiss the notion that it's a MC. What happens when you plug a MC into a MM input? Does it play at all? Play very quietly?
While it sounds good, it doesn't bowl me over with the things that analog is supposed to. Compared to my Dual, it has better resolution, much better bass, more spaciousness, but somehow also a glassiness and not quite natural sound. It isn't as continuous or coherent as it should be. Could this be the result of improper loading? Or a cartridge that needs replacing (the cartridge was a bonus - I didn't even know it had one until I picked up the unit, & I was told that it was old and may need replacing)?
nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
Well, like I said, if it plays through your MM input at levels similar to your CD or Tuner at a given volume, chances are 99% it's not a MC but a MM.

That said, there is a class of moving coil cartridges that the manufacturers (who make them) call Hi Output or "H" or "HO". They have outputs in the 1.2 - 2.5 mV, about the same as a typical moving magnet cart. (Regular MCs are 0.24 - 0.85 mv.)

Your mystery cartridge MIGHT be a hi output moving coil type, and there's really only one way to tell without test equipment, which is: MM carts have no magnetic attraction to small screwdrivers, paper clips, nail files, etc., because their magngets are so tiny. MC carts can exert a very strong force on any ferrous material closer than an inch (use the stylus guard!)

Hope that clears up the confusion ;--)
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