Ortofon Cadenza Black loading

Yes. I run mine at 100 ohms and this seems perfect.

To some extent it is dependant on the phono stage, but it seems most people run the Cadenza Black at 100 ohms from what I have read over the years.

100 Ohm is standard, basic recommendation for many MC, also default for the most phono stages. But you can use whatever YOU like, can be 300, 500, 1000, 10000, 47000 Ohm.

It’s nice to have a phono stage with optional loading, not every user have an optional loading, normally no choice, except 100 Ohm (or very few alternative options). So when someone using 100 Ohm and ok with that, it doesn’t mean he/she tried many different options.

Do not hesitate to try different loading if you can, it will not make any harm for your MC cartridges.

I really like my Icon phono stage. It is fixed at 100 ohms MC. The designer has gone into the logic behind that in great detail.

Other phono stage designers insist that the best loading is wide open (47k). I would not consider any phono stage with one fixed loading value. Best to have choices from 50 to 47k and use ones ears.

In case there is anyone on this thread who does not already know this, the convention is to load the cartridge with a resistance that is at least 10 times that of the internal resistance of the cartridge itself. Therefore, a typical low output moving coil cartridge that will have an internal resistance of about 10 ohms can be loaded with 100 ohms, but it can also be loaded with any resistance higher than 100 ohms. Of course, you also have the option to go below 100 ohms with that cartridge. But as the ratio approaches one (internal resistance = phono load resistance), more and more of the signal voltage will be lost to ground. In addition high frequencies will gradually be rolled off. Some people like it that way, and there is nothing wrong with that. This constitutes one of the factors used in thinking about how to load the cartridge. The other factor relates to how the phono stage is designed and constructed. As you increase the load resistance toward 47K ohms, which is usually taken as wide open, the phono stage might in some cases become less stable and develop high frequency resonances. I am referring here to electronic resonance not mechanical. One result can be exaggerated ticks and pops..