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The amazing benefits of proper cartridge loading.

Big Bill

Big Bill

Summertime Rolls.....
For the past several years I’ve been using a Pioneer SA-9500 II integrated amp for vinyl playback and I have grown fond of it and its ample cartridge loading options (both resistance and capacitance). Lately I’ve been thinking of giving a MC cartridge a try on my Empire/Linn hybrid, so in preparation I purchased an Onkyo P-360RS pre-amp for its MC cartridge capabilities. After servicing the Onkyo I gave her a whirl with my Ortofon OM /200NE cartridge. I immediately noticed much improved detail with this pre-amp V/S the 30 year old 9500 II, however it sounded a little “off” to me. This led me to wonder, just how critical is proper cartridge loading and could that be the source of the problem? With these questions in mind, I set out to learn how to add capacitance to a phono stage. After AK member catman was kind enough to clue me in as to how it’s done, I was off to the races! I bought two RCA “Y” adapters, some cheap male RCA plugs and a small variety of capacitors (51pF, 100pF, 150pF, 200pF, 250pF, 300pF and 350pF). I soldered the caps to the plugs and began to try each cap in successive order until I found the sweet spot. The factory recommended capacitance loading range for Ortofon OM carts is between 200-600pF (depending on the stylus to varying degree). The Onkyo has a factory capacitance loading of 220pF (thanks dr*audio). I found that the Ortofon sounded best to me with an additional 100pF capacitance (a total of 320pF). I’m here to tell you the sonic difference between 220pF and 320pF with this cart is nothing less than amazing to my ears!

This leads me to wonder why I haven’t seen more posts here regarding the importance of proper cartridge loading. I just happened to stumble upon this important adjustment by circumstance; I think it would benefit our members here a great deal if this topic were discussed here more often. What do you guys think?


Bill.
 

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Wow, I have never given this a thought…my eyes are now open…Thanks for the info; I may have to do some tweaking myself.
 
Yes Cartridge loading Does have a Significant Difference on the sound quality you hear from your MC cartridges. Most of the upper end Phono Pres have Dip switches for loading. But you can find the correct setting by doing exactly what You did. Once you find the correct setting it is Amazing at the Difference sometimes. Enjoy!
 
This is definitely some good information and I am going to have try it myself. Thanks Bill!:thmbsp:
 
G'day all, good stuff Bill, but I'm not surprised to hear this at all, as I've been pushing this sort of thing with the Shure M97xE for ages!

At least as far as the M97xE goes, resistive termination variation works even better, but careful shunt capacitance loading optimisation is also a very valuable approach as well with most moving magnet phono cartridges. :thmbsp: Regards, Felix aka catman.
 
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This is odd, because while MM Cartridges are affected by capacitance changes, MC Cartridges are not. Mark
 
markd51 said:
This is odd, because while MM Cartridges are affected by capacitance changes, MC Cartridges are not. Mark
Click to expand...

The MC reference was to explain the motivation for the move to another pre-amp. Note that the cart I reference is an MM Ortofon OM body.:yes:
 
dokblues said:
Yes Cartridge loading Does have a Significant Difference on the sound quality you hear from your MC cartridges. Most of the upper end Phono Pres have Dip switches for loading. But you can find the correct setting by doing exactly what You did. Once you find the correct setting it is Amazing at the Difference sometimes. Enjoy!
Click to expand...

Yes, but loading for MC Cartidges refers to changes in Impedance (ohms), not Capacitance (pf)
 
marantzfan said:
You sure about that Mark? :scratch2:
Click to expand...

Well, I have heard of instances where the performance of certain MM Cartridges can be enhanced by Impedance changes (ohms). That deviating from the default 47K ohms, to perhaps 65K Ohms, or even 100K ohms can offer improvements in sound. Mark
 
markd51 said:
Well, I have heard of instances where the performance of certain MM Cartridges can be enhanced by Impedance changes (ohms). That deviating from the default 47K ohms, to perhaps 65K Ohms, or even 100K ohms can offer improvements in sound. Mark
Click to expand...

BTW I miss New Mexico ALOT....Mexican food here is terrible and I would kill to be back in your neck of the woods.... Anyhow, back to our regularly scheduled program..
 
Big Bill said:
The MC reference was to explain the motivation for the move to another pre-amp. Note that the cart I reference is an MM Ortofon OM body.:yes:
Click to expand...

Ah So Big Bill! :D I must've mis-read, and misunderstood your first post. My apologies. Mark
 
Odd Bill, there was a post here of yours that myteriously seemed to vanish? lol

I think it was reference to mentioning dokblues not saying anything about capacitance, and you (and Dokblues) are correct. Mark
 
marantzfan said:
BTW I miss New Mexico ALOT....Mexican food here is terrible and I would kill to be back in your neck of the woods.... Anyhow, back to our regularly scheduled program..
Click to expand...

Sadly Marantzfan. in this neck of the woods of New Mexico, most of the Mexican Restaurants have less than stellar Mexican Food. lol

The style is a bit different from Mexican Food I had become accustomed to in the really good Mexican Restaurants in Chicago.

I haven't had a Grilled Skirt Steak Carne Asada in 7 years, and would practically give my right arm for one. Same with Al Pastor Tacos. Only time I seen Al Pastor, was in Juarez Mexico about 5 years ago, and sadly, we didn't eat there. The Dark Mole (which is an acquired taste IMO) is another thing that is uncommon here.

But I have had some good food, based upon the New Mexican Chile. Chile of course reigns king here! Las Cruces NM has a few decent places.

Sorry folks to steer this thread, man, I'm always thinking about good food, and it's surprising I don't weigh 300 lbs! :D Mark
 
G'day all. Bill, also be aware that there is also possibly around 150 picofards of additional capacitance in the interconnects and tonearm wiring by themselves, so your overall input shunt capacitance is most likely even higher than you may think! Regards, Felix aka catman.
 
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I love the ingenious method you used to set that up --quick and easy, and very easy to change caps when you change carts. It has probably been known to many for years, but I'lve always jerry-rigged a less flexible system, when needed at all (most of my pre-amps have variable settings built-in). Excellent! :thmbsp:

Setting the load appropriately for the cartridge does indeed make an audible difference! :music: :yes:
 
Big Bill thanks for the simple solution. I have thought for years there must be a simple way to add this loading to pre's that don't offer it. (Since I am impoverished and mine doesn't.) I read Catman's post a while back about the M97 and various loadings. Made me wonder even more. Any thoughts to the resistive loading? Could it be accomplished like this as well? And perhaps combined with this. Arrrghhhh Thoughts racing.. where's my soldering iron???
 
I believe the Ortofon OM series calls for a 200-300 pF load. What kind of sonic changes did you get? If I want to do this do I need to a multimeter to factor in the turntables RCA capacitance?
Brilliant way to set it up btw. Any degrade in sound quality do to the splitter?
 
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