Saudio -- I would respectfully disagree. In general there is no reason to expect that providing a load to the cartridge which numerically equals its output impedance will provide best results, or even a good starting point. Quoting from the excellent reference provided by Gundam91:
And it seems to me, at least as a starting point, that the manufacturer's recommendation for the specific cartridge should supersede any general guidelines.
Also, I'm not sure why placing a load resistor on the primary side should necessarily be given preference to placing a resistor on the secondary side, with the value chosen to reflect an equal value to the primary side when divided by the square of the turns ratio.
Regards,
-- Al
The first rule of thumb is that most (some exceptions exist) MC cartridges like to see a load impedance of 3X to 6X their output impedance value.
And it seems to me, at least as a starting point, that the manufacturer's recommendation for the specific cartridge should supersede any general guidelines.
Also, I'm not sure why placing a load resistor on the primary side should necessarily be given preference to placing a resistor on the secondary side, with the value chosen to reflect an equal value to the primary side when divided by the square of the turns ratio.
Regards,
-- Al