Manley Chinook - setting for Ortofon Quintet Black S

I don’t have a Quintet but have used several similar Ortofon MCs. You definitely want 60dB over 45dB. But even 60 is a bit too low for that 0.3mV output, imho. The "Special Edition" Chinook from Upscale appears to add a 65dB gain mode which would be PERFECT for 0.3mV. That 5dB can make the difference between nice but slightly lifeless / anemic playback and exciting playback.

Capacitance should generally be kept to a minimum for MC cartridges. Try 0. It won’t actually be 0 (you phono cables have capacitance), but you want as close that that as possible.

With Ortofons like yours I would usually prefer either the 50 or 80 ohms loading. Try both. But either of these settings should sound good.

Anything over 50 ohms load resistance could reasonably be used without important compromise to performance.  It's a matter of taste.

As long as your preamp has around 12-15db of gain and your amp has an average input sensitivity of around 2v, the Manley’s  60db setting will be fine with your cartridge. 

This thread is so old tjjunk won't care anymore but what the hell here you go.

Same cartridge I have found the following settings sound great to me.

60db gain

150 ohms

awesome 

i wll try that 

I would spend some time and use your ears to determine the best loading for your system.  It's kind of the icing on the cake so to speak with getting the tone just how you like it.  Lower is usually fuller sounding but can rob some transparency.  I would guess 100 but try 400 and see how you like it.  

thanks

I purchased the Chinook last November and did not play around a lot.

In August of this year, I acquired Klipsch Cornwall III's.

the two have drastically changed the sound, so much smoother, bigger, and cleaner.

As noted, I need to play around more.  Making the adjustments others mentioned make subtle tonal changes. I am trying to hone in on that 'live presence' type of sound. The Cornwall's have gotten me much closer than my previous Totem Hawk's. I think now it is just adjusting the Chinook.

I am still using my Threshold FET9. Once in a while, I flip back to the MC Phono built into it. It does a very good job, but the Chinook provides a generally overall smoothness. Maybe that is due to the tubes.

Thanks again to all contributors 

If you call the manufacturer they can usually be very helpful with suggestions on settings.

@tjjunk further down the road you might look at tube rolling something like these into the Chinook.