Gain and Loading


Hello friends,
I recently acquired a phono preamp with adjustable gain and loading. What should I listen for when trying to come up with the best settings? My cartridge is currently a Dynavector DV20-XH (2.5 mv output and loading specified as ">1000").
I currently have the phono stage set at 50db gain and 47K loading.
A related question: Should I be trying to use the minimim amount of gain that produces a good result, or the maxium amount? (Same goes for loading).
Thanks in advance.

Tom
tfkaudio

Showing 1 response by swampwalker

I would minimize the gain consistent with a full robust sound, making sure that your pre-amp can work within the range of attenuation that is comfortable with your ears and provide fine enough volume adjustment. With a 2.5 mV output you should not need it on a high gain setting, but its also dependent on total system gain. As for cart loading, I think that that is highly system/cart dependent but in general high output MCs are typically loaded as if they were MMs. But there really is no way to harm your rig as you alter loading, so experiment til you find what sounds best.