Best way to warm up the sound

Does "MF" refer to Musical Fidelity, or to the Music Hall MMF series, or to something else? And is the Ortofon cartridge a moving magnet type?

I second the comments by Zd542. I would add that if the cartridge is a moving magnet type, in addition to breaking it in before reaching any conclusions I would suggest that you experiment with different load capacitances. Load capacitance will profoundly affect the tonal balance of moving magnet cartridges in the treble region, and reducing brightness in that region may very conceivably result in a perceived increase in warmth.

If you can provide links to specifications of the cartridge and the phono stage, and indicate the length and type of the phono cable, it may help us to determine what should be done to optimize load capacitance.

Regards,
-- Al

Yes, both the Tube Box DS and the JD9 provide four different input capacitance settings, the values being 47, 147, 267, and 367 pf for the Tube Box, and 47, 100, 150, and 220 pf for the JD9.

Either of those choices, in combination with the selection you will be able to make between the short cable having low capacitance and the longer stock cable having higher capacitance, should allow you to optimize the capacitive loading of just about any moving magnet cartridge.

Although I think there may be a few cartridges around for which 500 pf or so is optimal, which you probably wouldn't quite reach with the long cable and the 220 pf maximum setting of the JD9. I wouldn't let that be a factor, though, in deciding whether or not to purchase the JD9. If you go with the JD9, just avoid choosing a cartridge for which the minimum recommended load capacitance is higher than around 400 pf or so.

Regards,
-- Al

Thanks for providing the additional info. Strangely, although the Music Hall web page on the turntable states that "The mmf-5.1 comes complete with music hall magic 3 cartridge mounted. The magic 3 is specially built by Ortofon for music hall," the turntable's manual that is linked to on that page states in six different places that the cartridge is a Goldring. The Goldring model number is indicated as 1012GX, and the recommended load capacitance for it is stated on page 13 of the manual as being 150 to 200 pf (picofarads).

The phono stage has a specified input capacitance of 120 pf. The capacitance of the phono cable, the internal wiring in the tonearm and turntable, and the connectors on the turntable and cable will all add to that, and I suspect would bring the total to significantly more than 200 pf. Given that it is a moving magnet cartridge having high inductance (570 mH per the manual), reducing the total capacitance will most likely reduce brightness, and thereby very conceivably increase perceived warmth.

Approximately how long is the phono cable? (Cable capacitance is directly proportional to length). And are you using the cable that is supplied with the turntable? If not, what make and model cable are you using? And am I correct in interpreting from the manual that the connectors on the rear of the turntable are RCAs, so that you could readily change to a different cable that would be shorter and/or have lower capacitance per unit length? Finally, what is the shortest length that would be practicable for your setup?

On the other hand, if the manual is wrong or out of date and the cartridge is an Ortofon, there is no indication of recommended load capacitance. You might want to email Music Hall directly, and ask them to clarify.

Regards,
-- Al

100 to 400 pf is an unusually wide range for recommended loading of a moving magnet cartridge. My suspicion is that the tonal balance of the cartridge will vary significantly within that range.

As a rough guess, the capacitance of the 46 inch phono cable plus the 120 pf input capacitance of the phono stage plus the capacitance of the turntable's internal wiring and connectors is perhaps a bit more than 300 pf.

The lowest capacitance low cost decent quality cable I am aware of is Blue Jeans LC-1, at about 12 pf/foot, and $27.75 for a 1.5 foot stereo pair. Using that cable in that length would probably cut the total load capacitance almost in half, and would be a worthwhile experiment IMO. Even if it didn't solve the problem, having that cable would expand your options in the future if you ultimately decide to go to a different cartridge.

I am assuming, btw, that the connectors on the rear of the turntable are RCAs, as appears to be the case based on the illustration in the manual.

That cable, like most RCA cables that are available these days, does not include a separate ground wire. You could either use the ground wire of the existing cable for that purpose, while leaving the RCAs of the existing cable unconnected, or else use some plain old 18 or 20 gauge hookup wire, which is readily available at Radio Shack and elsewhere.

If you ultimately find yourself wanting to experiment with higher load capacitances, consider spending $49 on this kit, listed as part number DBP-6 here.

It's certainly possible that doing these things won't fully or even mostly resolve the issue, but even if that proves to be the case doing these experiments will minimize the likelihood that you end up compensating for one inaccuracy by introducing or increasing another one, which is usually not the best way to go.

Regards,
-- Al