Cartridge Loading- Low output M/C

Krellog,

You got a lot of useful information and advice above, particularly from lewn and atmasphere.  From my own experience, I tend to like to run my cartridges wide open, because my tube-based phonostage is not prone to overload from RFI and I get the most top end extension and "air" that way (this open top end is why one pays big bucks for MC cartridges).  But, if there is close to universal loading (one that works reasonably well with most MC cartridges) it would be around 100-150 ohms. 

Have you listened to your setup with a different loading than 22 ohms?  That would be a LOT of loading for almost any cartridge and it would tend to kill dynamics and make the top end dull.  While the particular sound one likes is a personal preference, I would be concerned that you might be utilizing excessive loading to compensate for other problems that are better addressed more directly.  For example, if you have the tonearm raised too high at the pivot (excessively high VTA/SRA), this tends to create a thin, edgy sound that you might be compensating for by excessive loading).

No, it does not necessarily mean that you have a phonostage that is behaving like Atmasphere described; you are utilizing extreme loading (22 ohms) which would prevent overloading from ultrasonic signals, and to some extent, the sharp transients of a tick or pop.  You should try your current setup with the loading set at 47k ohms (or totally unloaded, if that option is available) to see what happens.  Just experiment with all loading options, and with each setting, leave it at that setting for some time so that your ear/brain gets acclimated to the new sound.  

To me, utilizing high loading (low value of resistor) takes away a lot of what one hopes to get out of moving from run of the mill MM cartridges to a MC cartridge--the vibrancy, liveliness and top end extension is wiped away.  If your set up sounds "wrong" with more modest loading, such as 100 ohms, something might be wrong elsewhere.