Questions about a new Ruby 2 cartridge

i'm using a VPI Aries,JMW arm w/ a ruby 2h, and the pass labs ono phono stage. you have to let the ruby break in before you listen critically, cause until it's played awhile you are not hearing what you will end up with at all. the vta is critical for any cart i think. i've found i do keep it in the low range w/the ruby. you should double check your entire set-up of the cart though, using the vpi tool and a stylus gauge, and checking the azimuth (left/right tilt) very carefully by eye. (sibilance dissappeared for me when i got that level).
47 k is where i landed when i set it up months ago. but just last week i started thinking it was less than perfect, and i spent a long time experimenting, moving up and down from 100 ohm. after a brief flirtation with 120 ohm, during which a japanese "pro use" pressing of abbey road listened to under etymotic research er4s's earphones sounded "smoother, with less brittle highs and more upper mids" (this from my notes) i went back to my speakers and also tried my grado rs1 headphones and something was missing at 120. so i switched all over the place, then to 47k again. 47k sounded spot on.
what this taught me was that the ety's, supposedly the most accurate headphone made, are either revealing a sound quality that's there which i don't like, or are not so accurate and are adding a bit of brightness. when i moved away from 47k loading it cut these highs, thus appealing to me in the moment. but only for some recordings and only under the etymotics. at 47k i hear it all and the imaging is at it's best. with no "rising top octave". no question.

Zaikesman, hooray for the clarity of your post, it makes perfect sense and explains to a non technical guy like me why pass labs gave the option for resistors. if i can figure out where to get them i know where my spare time is going over the next few days. i've worked really hard to create a system that does "it" for me, and my ears are old but still hear slight adjustments in vta; so i'm really excited at the prospect of hearing the differences.
my system sounds great to me at 47k, but many major improvements to it came as surprising revelations... maybe my etymotics really are revealing the truth of what's there at the 47k!
my only thought is that i'll also try something between 5 and 10k, and 10k; since earlier you had said that it all becomes the same "somewhere in the range of 5-10". thanks a lot for your post.

aw darn...i just read my pass info on the ono, and it was for mm that they provided room to play. it looks as though for mc i am limited and can only go up from 1000 to 47k. oh well. i am going to spend tonight retrying 500 - 1000 with a variety of lps.

Zaikesman,
thanks! I have weaned myself off 47k myself over the last months and am reaping enormous benefits. your advise was excellent. especially helpful to me was your paragraph beginning "what you are looking for...".
the extreme highs at 47k were indeed "unrealistically exagerated", which at first was very seductive (in the "openness" that I heard in it). but now when I move too high in my setting I perceive an almost microphonic like echo effect that is extremely unnatural sounding.
it reminded me of what a friend of mine who is a sucessful producer of contempory commercial hip hop/r&b said to me when I explained to him that analog and tubes sound more natural to me, more real to my ear than digital. he said, "sure, I know what you mean. but when I'm in the studio we are actually TRYING to get an unrealistic, even supernatural sound. because it's attractive to the kids - it sells."
47k ohms sells too. I guess because it is so much better then the compression at the other extreme.

easy - and fun and time consuming!

still on the path actually.
a few months back I felt that 825 ohms was the best I would find. I've had it there most of the time since then, but I was bothered at times by the highs seeming a bit too strident, like a HINT of too much edge. I attributed it to the nature of the Ruby 2H in my system as compared to the previous carts I'd been used to - which were all Grados(mellow mellow mellow). so I thought "give it time" as it may just be unrolled off highs being new to my ears. then it became clear to me that it also still sounded less SOLID then it should. (((just for fun before trying other loads I reached over to my old "audionics of Oregon" David Berning designed ba150 amp and switched it's FEEDBACK on. that did cut the airyness, implying more solidity, but paying for it with unwanted compression. back to zero feedback...))) and sure enough, dropping the load to 475 ohms brought it into focus; with smooth and clear upper mids, a touch of liquidity, sweet tight bass, killer soundstage & imaging, (wonderfully transparent but not unnaturally so) and the highs less biting but still quite present. now I am playing between 475 and 452.06: Abbey Road sounds best at 475 while Beethoven (the 9th - Von Karajan 63), Bach and Albert King just LOVE it at 452. Bill Evans and Louis Armsrong sound great everywhere. so I want an external switch, which I ain't got, so I guess I'm gonna have to compromise somewhere sometime. thank God and Harry W. that I at least have VTA on the fly!
so I'm deciding between 2 perches in heaven - things could be worse...Such sweet torture.

one strange thing: I just read the specs that came with my ruby 2h and it says: load from 1000 to 47k ohms. so in my case i'm halfing their (low) recommendation vs your doubling. awhile back Wayne at Pass Labs told me to completely forget any cart mfg suggestions as it is all so dependent on variables in each particular system. I believe he must be correct.