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Capacitance settings on Manley phonostage

Was hoping I could get some advice on the capacitance settings on the Manley Chinook phonostage. I have a VPI Classic 2 with a MC Dynavector XX2 mkII cartridge...everything sounds good but I am a vinyl novice and don't know a whole lot about the capacitance setting on the back of the Chinook. I've read elsewhere that the capacitance settings don't affect MC cartridges like they do MM. I called Manley to get their input and while they were very nice, all I got was to set it at whatever sounds good to my ears. Now I do understand that's the most important thing, but what threw me was that their manual states that there is a "formula" to figuring out where to start, but when I called I was in so many words told to ignore that and just set it by ear. He also didn't make any mention that I shouldn't use different settings since I have a MC cartridge which I would think he would've mentioned if that was true....so now I'm pretty confused. I also have yet to find the capacitance of a Dynavector cartridge, so I was hoping that someone with more experience with the capacitance issue could shed some light on this and whether or not it does matter if you have a MC cartridge. Thoughts?
audioguy3107

Showing 1 response by gbmcleod

gbmcleod
514 posts
 
To make things interesting, my dealer installed a Clearaudio Accurate on my VPI turntable recently. We listened to it at 47K and then at 300 ohms. I didn't even realize he'd changed it (on the fly, right in the middle of the cut) and when he turned around and I asked when he was going to do it, he said he had. There was NO discernible difference to either of us.
The equipment? Audio Research top phono stage and line stage - and the REF 75 amp, and Wilson Sashas.
It doesn't always work the way it's 'supposed' to. My former mentor, HP, always loads at 47k and only changed it if necessary (which meant: never). So there you have it.
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