Cartridge Loading- Benz LO.4


Looking to see if anyone has experience with proper phono pre-amp impedence for this cart. Specs say 200-47K. Quite a range and I'd like to narrow it down a bit. Any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks!

Regards
Jim
jimbo3

Showing 3 responses by dougdeacon

Jimbo3,

I don't know your cartridge at all, but based on the specs you quoted from Benz I'd be surprised if 47K sounded best. Do you have an easy way to change loading or would you have to strap resistors across the phono inputs?
Okay, here's what I'd do, FWIW of course.

Choose several LPs you're familiar with. This is not a time for unfamiliar music, just concentrate on sonics. Solo piano is excellent. Pick something dynamic that involves the whole keyboard, Beethoven not Debussy or Keith Jarrett. A big orchestral piece with good imaging is useful and natural vocals are too. Don't know if you're into opera or choral but soprano voices are very particular about proper loading. Nobody's as picky as a diva!

I think Benz suggested 47K as the upper limit simply to avoid alienating people with non-adjustable MM phono stages. The optimal load is probably much lower, as others with Benz experience have stated. I'd start right at the bottom of their suggested range, 200 ohms.

Play a selection or two from each LP to get a handle on the sound. At this very low load bass should be fuller, richer, etc. Treble will be less weighty than you're used to. Bass piano strings will sound growly and rich but high notes may lack punch. When I did this I could actually visualize the spot on the keyboard where the rolloff in treble weight began.

Now make a big move up. Don't try to hit the sweet spot by going to 225, go to 400 or even 800. The idea is to bracket the target with your first two tries. Once you establish that 200 is too low and 400 is too high (for example) honing in on the sweet spot is easy. Diddling your way toward it 5 ohms at a time would take forever.

When you get close, tonal differences between loads will become very subtle. The thing to listen for now is imaging. The right load will lend a three dimensional presence and heft to instruments that other loads can't quite match.
Oops! It's definitely a log scale when running through trannies. Now that you mention it, I'm not 100% sure when going directly to a phono stage. Do a search for "loading" posts by John Ellison on Vinyl Asylum, or just ask him. He knows the math of this stuff backwards.

You could get cheap resistors for testing, then one pair of good ones once you find the spot you like. Or check with John Chapman at BentAudio. www.bentaudio.com

He sold me 12 pairs of decent quality resistors for $15 with my trannies. He provides bits and pieces to DIY folks all the time, so I suppose he'd put a batch together for you.