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Genera phono cartridge loading

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Alasdair View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Alasdair Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Aug 2012 at 7:59pm

Dear Graham,

After dinner and some further thought I decided to try replacing the 100pF capacitors with the standard 220pF ones and ... you've guessed it ...  it sounded even better. In other words, once I had got everything else in the setup right, the standard recommendation of 220pF is best, even for a low output DL103 feeding a Genera via a stepup transformer. (However the DL103 does benefit from 500 ohms in parallel across the transformer input.)

Thanks for your patience and help.

Best wishes,

Alasdair

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fatmangolf Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Aug 2012 at 3:34pm
Hi Alasdair, Graham guided me in making similar comparisons of the input capacitors for an MM cart. With his help I found the model/types of capacitor were more important than the values. I too went back to the 220pF PFR's as supplied!
 
Jon
 
Jon

Open mind and ears whilst owning GSP Genera, Accession M, Accession MC, Elevator EXP, Solo ULDE, Proprius amps, Cusat50 cables, Lautus digital cable, Spatia cables and links, and a Majestic DAC.
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Alasdair View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Alasdair Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Aug 2012 at 8:45pm

Thanks for the comment Fatmangolf.

Actually the story did not end there - it had a twist in the tail and in the end the solution was nothing to do with capacitors. No sooner had I congratulated myself with solving the problem by installing the 220pF capacitors than the harshness gradually returned yet again. Before resorting to more drastic action, I decided to completely remove the cartridge and reinstalled it from scratch - and in the process discovered that a washer which should have been under the head of a mounting bolt had somehow managed to end up in between the top of the cartridge and the underside of the headshell. No wonder everything was rattling about a bit. 

With the washer restored to its correct position and the DL103 carefully remounted and realigned, all was sweetness and light and I was confident that the problem was finally solved. Interestingly, the loading of the cartridge was no longer as critical as previously: it sounded fine with no additional loading resistors in parallel with the transformer input and the effect of adding 390 ohms to reduce the impedance seen by the cartridge to about 210 ohms was now very subtle. I haven't bothered to play around any more with the Genera input capacitance but I wouldn't mind guessing that with the cartridge set up correctly the differences between 100pF, 150pF and 220pF would probably be similarly subtle.

The moral of the story? The cause of a problem may not be what you think it is and until you look in the right place you won't find the true solution. It also confirmed the importance of getting everything else (effective mass, mounting, alignment and tracking weight) right first before worrying about fiddling with electrical loading. The latter still has its uses as a means of 'fine tuning' the sound - but only after everything else is absolutely right. I thought I had already learned this lesson well and got everything right before bothering Graham with queries about capacitors - but then I was beaten by a stray washer. 

Ho hum, one to put down to experience methinks.

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