Impedence Matching for MC Cartridge for Turntable

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abhijit

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Can anyone help me in selecting the impedence for my Shelter 501 Mk II MC cartridge? I am using an outboard phono preamp from Trigon Electronics - Advance phono stage with my Cary SLP-05 Pre-amp. I have an option of slecting 64 types of impedence from 25.3 ohms to 1733.6 ohms for MC cartridge and various gains from 35.7 db to 60.2 db. The specification for Shelter cartridge is as follows:

Output Voltage - 0.4 mv at 1 khz 5cm/sec

DC Resitance - 12 Ohms

Recommended Load impedence:

a) Setup Xformer within 20 Ohms

b) Head Amplifier within 100 Ohms

c) High Gain Eq amplifier within 47 K

What load impedence and gain should I select for my phono pre-amp (Trigon Advance) to get the optimum effect? What will be the effect in the sound if I increase or decrese the impedenceand. What is the minimum and max impedence can one select without harming teh electronics?
What is the use of the damper in SME Sr V tonearm. Noticed that using the damper in Sheter cartridge reduce the high-frequenct output in the left channel. Can anyone explains the use of the damper?
 
Gain and impedance are related. If you load the cartridge down, say 20 ohms, than the output will decrease and you'll need more gain. At 47k you'll get maximum output but the highs will probably be too bright as there is no damping of the high frequency rise inherent in most MC carts.

I would start around 100 ohms and 35.7dB of gain (the lowest you can use the better IMO) and adjust one at a time until you find the perfect combo which will be system and ear dependent. I would not go below 100 ohms or so and above 1000 ohms the differences will be pretty slight IME.

Good luck.
 
Last edited:
Thanx for teh info and surely try out and give you the feedback
 
Thanx for the info and surely try out and give you the feedback
 
Thanx for the info and surely try out and give you the feedback
 
abhijit said:
Can anyone help me in selecting the impedence for my Shelter 501 Mk II MC cartridge? I am using an outboard phono preamp from Trigon Electronics - Advance phono stage with my Cary SLP-05 Pre-amp. I have an option of slecting 64 types of impedence from 25.3 ohms to 1733.6 ohms for MC cartridge and various gains from 35.7 db to 60.2 db. The specification for Shelter cartridge is as follows:

Output Voltage - 0.4 mv at 1 khz 5cm/sec

DC Resitance - 12 Ohms

Recommended Load impedence:

a) Setup Xformer within 20 Ohms

b) Head Amplifier within 100 Ohms

c) High Gain Eq amplifier within 47 K

What load impedence and gain should I select for my phono pre-amp (Trigon Advance) to get the optimum effect? What will be the effect in the sound if I increase or decrese the impedenceand. What is the minimum and max impedence can one select without harming teh electronics?
What is the use of the damper in SME Sr V tonearm. Noticed that using the damper in Sheter cartridge reduce the high-frequenct output in the left channel. Can anyone explains the use of the damper?
Click to expand...

Since I use much the same equipment as you do, here are my findings:

(for reference, SME 10, SME V, Shelter 90x, ARC PH 7)

I started out with an impedance of 100 ohms which matches the manufacturer's recommendation. I later switched to 47k which gave me a more open sound, yet without an emphasis in the upper midrange. (I found this to be the most accurate and most pleasant.) I would suggest that you play with different values until you find the one that hits the "sweet spot." The damping mechanism in the SME smooths the cartridge resonance to some degree. You can vary the effect or live without it. Experiment - as Cole Porter used to say. I use it, btw.
 
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