Moving coil with a bit less leading edge

Sadly and paradoxically, the word "neutral" must remain forever subjective.

Indeed. Just as one person's derogatory "round" is another's exemplary "natural," and one person's "resolving" is another's "aggressive." Most of us believe our system tells the truth when, ultimately, it reflects our taste. And that's perfectly okay. But sometimes it's good to remember that we all hear and enjoy differently, and that this hobby is an exercise in aesthetics, not epistemology. A judgement of taste may feel like it should be true for everyone, as Kant says, but it can only be subjective. So Opus, just find yourself a cartridge that suits your taste and don't worry about the rest.

I second Peterayer's comments. And I'm surprised that the thread reached nearly 40 posts before the word "loading" was mentioned.

The first things that come to my mind upon reading the description of the symptoms are overshoot and ringing. I see that the EAR 88PB phono stage/preamp uses SUT's at its inputs. Which suggests to me that a loading mismatch could cause the response of the cartridge or the transformer or both to overshoot and ring in response to high speed transients, overemphasizing them unnaturally and causing them to be fatiguing. Or if the ringing is at ultrasonic frequencies, it may cause side-effects in downstream circuitry that are at audible frequencies. And as Pete suggested, comparable effects could conceivably result from other causes at other places in the signal path.

Not sure what specific course of action to suggest, but those are some thoughts to consider.

Regards,
-- Al

Many of the sounds I hear at a live orchestral concert seem
to speak with an effortless and supple voice. There is a
more complex and complete sense of richness and ambient
tonality. I often hear a more fluid, freer kind of
presentation with violins. With higher pitched wind
instruments like piccolos, their pungent or piercing sounds
come across as somewhat more listenable, not quite as sharp
than they might with reproduced music. Both hard and soft
sounds from the piano also seem to present more information
in more listenable and enjoyable fashion. Perhaps what I'm
trying to say is when I hear live orchestral instruments
being expressed either individually or collectively, it is
that combination of complex tonalities radiating outward in
different directions so freely that gives me the
impression of fuller, more complete sound that I have a
tendency to describe as rounded. Maybe too it's the less
than pinpoint presentation compared with reproduced music
that further reinforces my impression. Though it doesn't
seem so to me, some might feel I would be misusing the word
rounded here. Otherwise, I may have become somewhat
suspicious the term crisp, since I've fairly often seen it
used in association with sounds I would interpret as brittle
or stiff rather than firm. Perhaps differences in hearing
are playing a part here.

Wrm57: I think you say it very well!

Opus, you know what you're hearing and you describe it admirably. And you have a very fine system that should produce excellent sonic textures. I agree that the soundwave from an orchestra in a concert hall or a jazz ensemble in a well-designed acoustical space is far richer than anything I've heard reproduced anywhere. And a lot of high-end cartridge/arm combos err on the side of detail at the expense of that live fullness--at least the ones I'm familiar with. The closest I've gotten at home to that full, rich soundwave has been with the Kansui on a Tri-Planar VIIuii, and to a lesser extent, an SPU Royal GMII on an SME M2-12R. I also have a Benz Ebony S-L and A90 on other arms and they're great in their own ways, but they don't generate that soundwave as well. FWIW.

Al: I'm not a technically oriented person, but your point of
possible loading mismatch is well taken. Internally, the EAR
88PB has two different settings via a switch: 4 and 40. With
the transformer's input, 4 is applicable for cartridges
indicating up to 100 ohms; 40 for those up to 1000 ohms.
Indeed, I have encountered situations where one or the other
loading is clearly desirable for a particular cartridge.
Yes, at times, there can certainly be a mismatch.

Wrm57: Thanks very much for your kind comments. I had
previously used a Benz Micro LP. A wonderful sounding
cartridge until I accidentally (or stupidly) blew out one of
its channels. Wanted to get it fixed, but Benz discontinued
its policy of repairing at an inexpensive cost. I have been
quite interested in trying one of the Miyajimas, and might
eventually do so.