Loading for Air Tight PC-1 Supreme


Does anyone know what is the ideal loading for the Air Tight PC-1 Supreme cartridge? I cant seem to find any info anywhere
ianchang

Showing 2 responses by dougdeacon

Both your phono stages have internal stepup transformers, so Rushton's setting (based on his active phono stage) will not apply.

Loading of LOMC's with stepup transformers is both more critical and more complex than with active stages. The optimal load depends on the turns ratio of the transformer, and small adjustments can make large sonic changes.

I'd suggest checking with your phono stage manufacturers or dealers for guidance (though in my experience many offer less help than they should). Let them know the internal impedance of your cartridge (2.5 ohms) and they should be able to give you a starting place.

BTW, the brochure claims the Artemis ATE-2001's MC inputs are switchable to 3 ohms or 20 ohms. It's only the MM input that's fixed at 47K. Use the MC inputs and try both settings, just to give yourself some reference points.

With any stepup, you also have to decide whether to use primary or secondary side loading, another complex issue which was discussed on on a recent thread here. Look that thread up for an overview from someone who understands this difficult topic. I fine tuned LOMC's through stepups for several years with success, but it always took considerable experimentation to fine tune results and if I took the same cartridge and SUT to another system the optimal load was never the same.

If I'm making it sounds like there's no simple answer, it's because there's no simple answer. Loading with active gain stages is much easier.
With a low output moving coil cartridge (LOMC) you always have to set impedance based on the internal impedance of the cartridge - no matter what kind of phono stage you have.

An active gain stage just makes calculating a reasonable value simpler.