MC cartridge loading: still baffled


I am using a low output moving coil cartridge- a retipped Linn Troika.  Recommended loading is 100-200 ohms which I have always followed.  My phono pre is an Ayre P-5xe and set to the highest gain.  Years ago, Michael at Ayre said most moving coil cartridges sounded best when loaded at 47k ohm using their phono pre.  I just got around to trying this setting and it does sound more open and better to me.  Lately, I am discovering that much of the dogma that I have been following isn't necessarily correct, at least with my system and to my ears.  Another example I found recently is that my arm/cartridge performs just fine with very little anti-skate force as opposed to just picking a setting equal to VTF as universally suggested.

Back to the loading question:  is the proper loading more a function of the phono pre or the cartridge itself?
jc4659

Showing 1 response by yeti42

Using a DV 17D2 in a Rega RB300 with the AS set to match the VTF resulted in an offset and twisted cantilever after probably a bit too much use. I then got a copy of a record called “the enjoyment of stereo” in a job lot of classical records I was given. This had a track for setting antiskate which was a blank section of the disk near the halfway point and it’s proved very useful over the years.
At one point I had an arm with weight and thread AS (Naim Aro) where the thread could only go in a small number of grooves to adjust it, it was easy to hear which one sounded best.
Now with a Schröder Reference arm and I’m back to the blank record with a bit of fine tuning by ear. The hifi news and record review test record tracks result in far too much AS.

Loading I also assess by ear but as suggested above it doesn’t seem to transfer between phonostages Ω for Ω. If you like 47k on the Ayre compare it to the next lower setting and so on, you’ll soon form a preference or, if you don’t, it doesn’t matter.