Is that the only reason (RF) that increasing the load resistor value appears to brighten (open) up the top end of a MC?
@noromance If the load resistance is too high, the resonant peak can still make energy. RFI really messes with audio electronics; the more gain the more it seems to affect it. We're talking about this RFI injected directly into the input of the phono section via the tonearm cable itself.
If you were able to install an RF filter than went low enough you'd find the problem eliminated in that manner as well but its easier to design the phono section to be immune to that in the first place.

