Do I Have the Wrong Cartridge?

I can't say what the answer to Q1 is, without being familiar with the sound of the particular recordings. Re Q2, if load capacitance differs considerably from what is optimal for a particular MM cartridge, in either direction (too high or too low), it will profoundly affect the upper treble, quite possibly the lower treble, and perhaps even the upper mid-range. It is very conceivable that a severe enough mismatch could cause massed strings and brass to sound harsh and thin.

Typical MM load capacitance recommendations tend to be in the area of 100 to 300 pf, or in a few cases as much as 500 pf or so.

Load capacitance will affect LOMC sonics to a MUCH smaller degree, and in indirect ways that involve how the phono stage responds to ultrasonic and RF frequencies. So as I said, despite what the manual seems to say it doesn't make sense that the preamp design would provide a 0/150 pf switch for LOMC's, but no selection for MM's.

The "0" position, btw, will not really be 0 pf. It will be some presumably fairly small number corresponding to the intrinsic input capacitance of the preamp, while the 150 pf position will be 150 pf greater than that. And the capacitance of the phono cable will add significantly to that total.

Repeating my earlier question, how long is the phono cable?

Best,
-- Al

Thanks for the info on Capacitance, Al and I'll try switching to opposite setting.
Phono cable is stock 3 ft. and am waiting to upgrade after I get the cart problem worked out. As far as the cable, the Linn expert who rebuilt the table (Rick at Audio Alternative) said cable is fine for now.

Plus, did not have this cart problem with my former budget Linn cart. Not a great cart musically btw.

You sound like you really know what you are doing, and with Al's help you'll figure it out. Reading through the thread though, I notice 2 things that may be worth mentioning. First is break in. I find all the time that a new phono cart can literally sound defective until its broken in.

The other issue is the Rega cart itself. I'm not too familiar with Rega's carts, but I do remember something about them needing to be aligned using Rega's own spec's and not the industry standard spec's (It starts with a B but I can't remember the correct term.)

Either way, I'm sure you'll figure out what the problem is.

Thanks, Zd542, maybe it's just breakin. I'll have to hope that the alignment is correct since I carried my TT into the Rega dealer for the setup.

The Elys is a good cartridge though I would have also considered an Linn Adikt or a Grado, but in my expereince, those tend to hum near the inner grooves. The Rega cartridge is not particularly high, thus I am wondering whether the arm is too high which would knock off tracking angle. Also, verify VTF using a good quality scale. I have had the Shure for over 25 years and it works well. A couple of years ago I splurged on a $300 digital scale from the UK. Guess what, my Shure scale and the fancy $300 scale were a match in readings thus I sold the UK scale.

My own experience with 1980's classical recordings, particularly on the DG label, was that they sounded bright, harsh and thin. If this is what you are basing things on, maybe the Elys is showing you exactly what's on those records.