I thought I'd enter another installment in my saga. The Foz is back, and I set up the azimuth for my new cartridge. From the beginning, I didn't think much of the new Ortofon Windfield. I came from a Benz LPS and the Windfield was not even in the same league. As it broke in it got better and better, but even after a month or so (waiting for a new Fozgometer) it didn't capture me. I have a VPI 3D arm..and Harry gushed over this cartridge who really made be get it. I reviewed every parameter of setup, but loading....today, I worked on that. Harry told me that 500 ohms is what he uses and recommends, so naturally that is how I set it up. I was uneasy about something, and didn't know what. I called Ayre and spoke to Michael...a guru with this stuff. He told me that he would try 4700 ohms....no resistor in place. Ok, I did that and although it sounded better in many respects, it didn't have the magic I was looking for. OK...opened the Ayre preamp, and got in a 1000 ohm resistor and OMG what a difference. Here is magic in spades. The sound changed with the addition of resistance much like an arm reacts to damping. When you have too much damping, the sound just lays there....too little, and there is too much fuzz...not enough instrument placement...spaces between the notes are filled in. I Suspect that the Ortofon is still waking up, but I encourage you vinyl fanatics, to experiment with loading and not just select a value on a whim. Every system is different and you must experiment to find your prescription.
