How does Impedance affect my Mo-Fi StudioPhono?


Hi all,
I just bought a Mo-Fi StudioPhono pre-amp. The default settings are too bright and slightly brittle. And messing with the impedance changed things. But, first:

MY SETUP:Audio Technica 140 XP Turntable with a Shure M97XE cart with upgraded LP Gear N97xVL ViVid Line stylus. It's going into the StudioPhono and into the CD input of my Onkyo 8020 receiver. Speaker-wise I have: ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2s.

From what I understand, 40DB gain and 47K impedance is what I want. Buuut, again, that sounds bright to me. For the heck of it, I kept 40DB gain and changed the impedance to 8500 (8.5K) and...well, to me it sounds much more like how it should sound. Way less bright and "brittle". Less fatiguing to listen to.

I know some will say "if it sounds great, just do that" but I'm trying to figure out why it does. Is it cutting out higher frequencies? If so, is that a good thing? Obviously, I bought a pre amp to open up the sound stage. So if lowering the impedance is the equivalent of me decreasing treble on my EQ I feel like I should skip a pre amp and go straight to the onkyo phono input.

SHURE CART LITERATURE:https://pubs.shure.com/guide/M97xE/en-US

Other Options offered on this Pre-Amp RE: impedance:75 Ohms, 85 Ohms, 100 Ohms, 330 Ohms, 500 Ohms, 900 Ohms, 1000 Ohms, 8500,  Ohms47000 Ohms

THANKS!
thebmillz
That’s not quite right. Impedance changes do not cut out or add. (Well, unless you over-do it.) What it does, electrically, the signal goes down the wire from a source (the cartridge) to the other end (phono stage), where there is an impedance or resistance at each end.

We want the signal to flow smoothly all the way through. But if the impedance is different enough then some of the signal bounces off and heads back, then reflects back again from the other end. This back and forth is what we call ringing and it happens with a lot of other things too. (It is why for instance springs like Townshend Podiums are great under speakers, they eliminate this ringing.)

Changing the impedance loading is like, think of light hitting water. Water is different resistance than air. There is an impedance mismatch. Most of the light goes through but some reflects back and you see it as glare. Wearing polarized sunglasses filters out the glare. That is a filter and is NOT what impedance loading does! Impedance loading takes you under the water to where now there is no glare.

In short then impedance loading improves the sound by eliminating the ringing which is an artifact of mismatched impedance.

@ thebmillz
A higher load on a cartridge will increase the treble. There is no right or wrong setting. It’s what you like better!