Bruce (Bifwynne), good points about load capacitance. I don't recall offhand the particular discussion you are referring to, but let me clarify a little further.
For cartridges having high inductance, such as most MM's, the load capacitance seen by the cartridge will directly affect tonality in the upper part of the audible spectrum. Too much or too little capacitance for the particular cartridge will adversely affect frequency response flatness. 100pf is recommended by the manufacturer for the OP's Maestro.
For cartridges having low inductance, such as most LOMC's, load capacitance will have insignificant direct effects on the cartridge's behavior at audible frequencies. However, high capacitance will lower the frequency and increase the amplitude of the ultrasonic resonant peak which results from its interaction with cartridge inductance. That in turn can result in the phono stage being required to process excess ultrasonic energy that it may not be able to handle gracefully. In general, therefore, the lower the capacitance the better, for LOMC's.
For HOMC's, such as the Dynavector you referred to, my suspicion is that the second of those two effects will generally be the most significant. But I don't have a precise feel for that, as inductance specs for that cartridge (and most others, for that matter) don't seem to be available. Perhaps Jonathan will comment further, with respect to HOMC's.
Handymann, I'm surprised that the attenuators you tried had such adverse effects. What model did you use, how much attenuation did it provide, and where in the signal path did you place it?
Best regards,
-- Al
For cartridges having high inductance, such as most MM's, the load capacitance seen by the cartridge will directly affect tonality in the upper part of the audible spectrum. Too much or too little capacitance for the particular cartridge will adversely affect frequency response flatness. 100pf is recommended by the manufacturer for the OP's Maestro.
For cartridges having low inductance, such as most LOMC's, load capacitance will have insignificant direct effects on the cartridge's behavior at audible frequencies. However, high capacitance will lower the frequency and increase the amplitude of the ultrasonic resonant peak which results from its interaction with cartridge inductance. That in turn can result in the phono stage being required to process excess ultrasonic energy that it may not be able to handle gracefully. In general, therefore, the lower the capacitance the better, for LOMC's.
For HOMC's, such as the Dynavector you referred to, my suspicion is that the second of those two effects will generally be the most significant. But I don't have a precise feel for that, as inductance specs for that cartridge (and most others, for that matter) don't seem to be available. Perhaps Jonathan will comment further, with respect to HOMC's.
Handymann, I'm surprised that the attenuators you tried had such adverse effects. What model did you use, how much attenuation did it provide, and where in the signal path did you place it?
Best regards,
-- Al