Resistor in phono stage

It looks like that cartridge is an LOMC having a rated output of 0.2 mv. It’s surprising that 54 db of gain is adequate with such a cartridge, but on the other hand the noise specs on your phono stage seem quite good ("0.1µV equivalent input noise, IHF weighted, shorted input; 80 dB below 1mV 1kHz input"), which figures to be helping.

In any event, with a 0.2 mv cartridge it’s hard to predict how sonics would be affected by variations in load resistance, as it would be highly dependent on the design of the particular phono stage, and specifically on the sensitivity of the phono stage to RF frequencies. (The interaction of the relatively low inductance of such a cartridge with the capacitances of the phono cable and phono stage input will result in a resonant peak in frequency response somewhere in the RF region, whose amplitude will be affected by the load resistance).

So I suspect that the only way to determine an optimal load resistance would be to try a few different values, although it’s possible that you would find it to not be particularly critical. One thing I would make a point of doing, though, is opening up the unit and seeing if someone has put capacitors on the loading terminals that are indicated in the manual. That might have been done if the phono stage had been used with a moving magnet cartridge having a relatively high recommended load capacitance. If you find that capacitors have been added, it would be best to remove them given that an LOMC is being used.

Regards,
-- Al

Al, Thanks for the correction, my bad.  Thanks also for giving me the easy way out. I was plain wrong, but it was due to brain fart.

Misternice, there are some who say that any MC should work fine into a 47K ohm load, and there are others who load down MC cartridges (which is to say they load the cartridge with a lower resistance) and swear that their choice is superior.  In principle, there is no right or wrong.  I only recently experimented with 47K as a load on some very low output MC cartridges, and I find that I cannot go back to the 100 ohm load that I previously favored.  The sound is just more open and effortless, in my system, with my cartridges and phono stage.  Ralph Karsten has pointed out that the phono stage itself is most affected by the load resistance; the cartridge doesn't care much until you get down to very low resistance loads, where now you are losing signal voltage to ground.  That reduces gain, and to my ears seems to roll off treble, both of which phenomena make electrical sense.

A wild card in your equation is the fact that you stored the cartridge for 6 years.  That may have affected compliance.  Give the cartridge several dozens of hours to loosen up before making critical judgements.

Vinyl Engine says that your Sumiko has 11g effective mass, with the "L" weight.  I found some comments on the internet to the effect that the Supex "likes" a high mass tonearm, which the Sumiko is not.  (11g is in the low range of "medium" effective mass.) Maybe that is a source of your dissatisfaction.  But I would do nothing until the cartridge has had a chance to break in.

Ok,thanks for that.

Im using the H weight on the arm.Im thinking it could be a combination of several things,not necessarily the resistors.Ive used a spin cleaner on my records for the first time,and that has changed what im hearing too,for the better,room acoustics,hifi rack,speakers,powercords, interconnects,etc..I will give the supex more time to settle in.Not a bad little cartridge,i must say.Using the a supex step up transformer of course.cheers.

Using the a supex step up transformer of course.

Ah! Which of course explains how the 54 db gain of the phono stage suffices for use with a 0.2 mv cartridge.

But it also adds to the possibility that either resistors or capacitors a previous user might have installed in the phono stage could be an issue. For example, suppose a previous user had installed 1K resistors, for use with a cartridge having a rated output in the upper part of the LOMC range. And let’s assume that your SUT provides a gain of 10:1. That would mean your cartridge would be seeing a load of only 10 ohms, which stands a very good chance of being low enough to result in the adverse effects Lew referred to in his previous post that can occur when load resistance becomes excessively low.

From the perspective of the cartridge, use of a SUT also greatly increases the effects of any capacitors that might have been installed on the loading terminals within the phono stage. Which as I mentioned earlier could conceivably have been done to conform to the loading requirements of some moving magnet cartridges.

So I would definitely open up the unit and take a look at what if anything has been installed on those terminals.

Regards,
-- Al