Cartridge load - AN6 vs other SUTs

[speedysteve]

Recently at Tom's place we listened to my Ortofon SPU Royal N and thought it surpassed the SPU Silver Meister and sounded very sweet indeed.

That was using a AN6 SUT set at 3. This apparently (thanks Guy - who also owns one), gives 30ohm load to the cart.

Now the Silver Meister is recommended >10 Ohm.

The Royal N is recommended > 100 Ohm!

Back on my system I changed the Lundahl SUT I have form 1:26 to 1:13. This changes the load from 64ohm to 258ohm.

I had it set to 1:26 cos' I needed the gain at the time and was using the Silver Meister.

Now with my Najda DSP pre, X/O I don't need the gain so though I'd try 1:13. Plenty of gain still and wambam the Royal N is performing just fine.

So could it have sounded even better at Tom's with another loading?

I may now add a couple of resistors to drop the load to say 150ohm for the Royal N and perhaps 50ohm for the Silver Meister.

The Classic GM Gold and others are all > 10ohm. The reference series 10-50ohm.

So the Royal N is a bit different in this respect.

Any SPU users got load recommendation for my two?

Also what resistors (not values, I can work them out), would be best, film / other exotics?

 

[pmac]

I use the 30 ohm setting on the SFz when I play my SPU N (not Royal). Seems to be the best loading for it.

Sorry, just reread your post and the above isn't much use to you is it :doh:

 

[speedysteve]

I use the 30 ohm setting on the SFz when I play my SPU N (not Royal). Seems to be the best loading for it.Sorry, just reread your post and the above isn't much use to you is it :doh:

Hehe - gave it a bump anyway and confirms that you use 30 for a 'normal' loaded SPU. Royal N I think should have higher...

 

[Guest]

As I understood it the ANS6 is labelled 1, 3 and 40 ohms, which actually reflect the measurement of the internal impedance at the cartridge, not the measurement at the SUT which I assume is about x10 or thereabouts. This is pretty standard on commercially-made SUTs as far as I can make out.

What's the markings on the SFZ then, Paul?

 

[pmac]

As I understood it the ANS6 is labelled 1, 3 and 40 ohms, which actually reflect the measurement of the internal impedance at the cartridge, not the measurement at the SUT which I assume is about x10 or thereabouts. This is pretty standard on commercially-made SUTs as far as I can make out.What's the markings on the SFZ then, Paul?

The same as far as I can remember. It isn't to hand right now, but I think that is the case

 

[speedysteve]

Tom,

I did PM Guy and here is what he wrote about it (I am sure he won't mind me sharing it here)

"I think the 1, 3 and 40 Ohm settings on the S6 are actually 10, 30 and 400 when it is loaded as it usually will be with 47K on the secondary. So 30 ohms or so for the SPU. I think anywhere between 30-50 seems to work with the SPU. Certainly the 38 Ohms the T10 shows seems fine. Bear in mind that the transformers in an S6 are pretty high quality both in terms of the way they are wound and the core material used."

 

[i_should_coco]

The same as far as I can remember. It isn't to hand right now, but I think that is the case

They are and yes, I believe they refer to approximate internal impedance of the cartridge, *not* the load presented.

 

[speedysteve]

They are and yes, I believe they refer to approximate internal impedance of the cartridge, *not* the load presented.

Hmm, The Royal N has an internal impedance of 6 ohms.

Your 'normal' other SPU's (not Royal) have 2, 3.1 and one or two with 6: so it is all over the place with them...

 

[Guest]

Hmm, The Royal N has an internal impedance of 6 ohms.Your 'normal' other SPU's (not Royal) have 2, 3.1 and one or two with 6: so it is all over the place with them...

Internal of 100 ohm for the Mono GM ... that really needed the Carver SUT I had at the time (which had 3.3, 39 and 110 ohm taps) to give its best, it wasn't right either straight into MM or at 40 ohm.

 

[pure sound]

When I measured the largest step up ratio of my S6 using a low impedance source it was something like 1:69. That equates to a load presented to the cartridge of about 10 ohms when the secondary is loaded by 47kOhm as it usually will be given a typical MM stage. (The switch on the front of an S6 would be saying 1 Ohm) I actually put resistors across the output such that the Io sees about 5-6 Ohms which sounded about right.