Moving coil with a bit less leading edge

Thanks for your suggestion, Doug. In sincerity, you've always been a reliable source for valuable information.

Opus88,

Do you use other sources (CD, SACD, etc), and if so, how do they sound playing classical music? Knowing how the rest of the system sounds would at least help to determine if your issues are isolated to the analogue part of your system.

If the issue IS in the choice of analogue gear, and not a adjustment issue, I think you need to focus on the combination of cartridge and phonostage. A "wrong" combination would be most obviously manifest in handling of upper frequencies. I find that with any given cartridge, a wide range of results can be had with different phonostages and it is not easy to "predict" the outcome based on the reputation of the products.

Thus, at best, I can only offer a rough guess that something like the lower price range Koetsu cartridges might work. Perhaps some non-MC cartridges should also be considered, such as Grado cartridges (somewhat blunted transients).

If you stick with MC cartridges, you might want to look into alternative MC step up transformers (SUT) and to bypass the SUT in the EAR phonostage. I am not personally familiar with your EAR phonostage, but, others have reported that the built in SUT is not as stellar as the active stages. The "wrong" SUT can sound excessively edgy and sibilant. There are MANY different separate SUT on the market and perhaps one would work better than the built-in unit. It is also easier to arrange to audition transformers than it is to audition cartridges.

Great post by Larry, IMO, which per my earlier comments makes perfect sense from a technical standpoint. Particularly given that the EAR phono stage only provides two loading choices for LOMC's, and no choice as to how that loading is allocated between the primary and secondary sides of the transformer.

Best regards,
-- Al

Larry: After making various adjustments to my tonearm's
height I was able to get rid of the hardness and stridency
and achieve a much more listenable sound. You mention
classical music. I listen to it almost exclusively, and feel
it's the most challenging kind of music to get right with a
sound system. I do have a limited number of cds and can
connect my old Marantz 63 Special Edition player directly to
my Air Tight ATM-3 monoblock amps. However, there is a
limiting factor associated with the latter. Quite some time
ago I had the amps' volume pots removed to attain a purer
sound. Doing this automatically left them at their full
volume level. This reduces my range of flexibility regarding
gain levels on both my Marantz cd player and my EAR 88PB
phono preamp. As far as cds go, this poses no big problem
for me, since I prefer lps. As for the EAR preamp, it
has output capability of at least 75db. The direct
connection between it and my Air Tights requires me to use a
very low output moving coil(.3mv or less), AND
simultaneously keep gain levels relatively low. This does
not affect my ability to hear and enjoy music. Besides, I
don't like things particularly loud anyway. Now since I need
a very low output mc, I believe the Koetsus wouldn't fit the
bill. Some of the less expensive cartridges in that line
have sounded too polite at the top for me. The more
expensive ones might be better, but I deem them too costly.
Otherwise, I have previously owned some Grados, but have
never been nuts about them either.

I've not had a significant problem regarding sibilance with
my EAR preamp. It is a pretty revealing unit however.
Perhaps in combo with my Dunlavy SC-4 speakers(also quite
revealing)and my Dynavector XX-2 MK2 cartridge and TW
Acustic 10.5 tonearm(both revealing as well)I might have
been experiencing a bit of "information overload" at
times. The two elements of my system I've sometimes
considered to be most at issue have been precisely those
you have mentioned---the preamp and the cartridge. Like
cartridges, my choice of preamps would be limited, based not
only on how my amps are functioning volume wise, but also my
preferences: a direct connection to the amps, a volume
control, significant gain and tubes in particular. Regarding
a different kind of transformer, I honestly wouldn't know
where to begin. Incidentally, I failed to mention I have a
spare preamp, the GCPH phono(yes, solid state), which I
recently connected to the amps, only to encounter the same
issue I had with the EAR before modifying tonearm height. By
the way, I should also say I've never heard anyone describe
the sound of the Air Tight ATM-3 monoblocks as strident,
hard, etc.

I have not abandoned the possibility that a new or different
cartridge might help provide further improvement in my
system's sound. That was the impulse that generated my
thread's initial query. But since fiddling with the tonearm,
I've put aside for now any serious concern regarding
replacement in gear. If things revert for the worse however
my first order of business will be to re-visit the cartridge
situation, and if need be after that, the preamp.

Sincere thanks, Larry and Al, for your offer to assist. It
is most appreciated.

Opus88, you could also try different tubes in your phono stage. It's less expensive than new gear and can make a huge difference. Just a thought. Glad you got the sound near to where you want it.