Ortofon Per Windfeld Load Impedance?

Right, so when was the last time you saw a 5 meter phono cable? Try one with a .25 output MC. Then we can talk about what happens in vinyl 102. I believe I can hear going too low as well as too high. This confirms Atmas measurements.

Zieman, since our preamp is balanced we tried exactly that, since the cartridge is a low impedance source. The result- no difference. Single-ended; hard to say what you might hear since single-ended cables tend to be more susceptible to coloration.

You can indeed hear the effect of the load being too low or too high. **That** is why you need to load the cartridge at critical damping *before* you mess with cables!

Atmasphere, Can you, or have you, done the "ring" deal at the end of the phono lead? VS. the cart pins? Have you measured any huge differences that would have you deviate from mfgrs' recommendations regarding loading? What three syllable word is applicable to cart and cable in sum? I know I read this somewhere... I do appreciate reading about measurements that confirm my listening results.

...the cartridge should be loaded to what is known as
'critical damping'. This is the point wherin the loading value damps ringing,
but does not roll off the normal response of the cartridge. An excellent way
to do this is to 'ring' the cartridge with a squarewave generator and observe
the output on an oscilloscope. A ringing waveform will be seen in an
unloaded cartridge. Installing a loading resistance will reduce the ringing
until a bare amount of overshoot is seen, this will be at or near critical
damping.

Atmasphere (Threads | Answers)

Atmasphere knows his analog like few others considering he builds his
products around the (balanced) analog source signal.

However, I have to wonder how 98% of audiophiles who don't own square
wave generators and oscilloscopes can ever hope to properly load their MC
carts?

I use the 25 times internal resistance +/- 50% method (taught to me by
member Nsgarch), and it works quite well.

Duh... By ear? By utilizing the MFGRs recommended starting points? By posting for advice on audiophile forums?