Is impedence so important for a pick/phono combo?

Just another voice to say, "Yes, it is important".

We recently tested some very small load changes with our Shelter 901. Most people with this cartridge prefer a load of about 40 ohms (running through a stepup). We tried multiple values between 30 and 50 and had no difficulty hearing the differences between each of them. Load changes as small as 1-2 ohms were audible once we knew what to listen for. You don't have to go to that extent, but you don't want to be wildly off the sweet spot either.

Rwd, LOL from your story of Lyra's "specification" for the Helikon. 100 to 47K?! My guess is they're just pretending to mate well with every phono stage on the planet in order to sell more cartridges. As you heard, the improvement when you load the cartridge properly is significant.

Sidssp, great suggestion. There's certainly no valid way to compare two phono stages without loading the cartridge identically. A couple of resistors should go for a lot less than a Rhea, and resistors practically never shut down intermittently without a reason. ;)

Zender... Yes, there is, but you may not like it.

Listen to your cartridge in your system in your room with your ears, at different loads. Find the load that sounds best. Sorry, but ultimately it's the only way.

The experiences of others and perhaps even the manufacturer's specs can get you close. But there are too many variables for the "perfect" load to be calculated. Every electrical component in the chain from cartridge to speaker coil has an effect, and changing the electrical load on the cartridge changes the physical behavior of the cartridge suspension itself. It's just too complex to model.

This is one reason I chose and love the BentAudio Mu stepups. I can achieve virtually any imaginable load in a matter of seconds by swapping in a new resistor. I can even use pairs of resistors to achieve intermediate loads for which no single resistor is available. Easy, educational and cheap!