Ortofon Jubilee and Graham 2.1 ?


Would the Ortofon Jubilee be compliant for my Graham 2.1 tonearm? I would expect this cartridge to be a big improvement over my Dynavector 10x5. Any Graham tonearm owners using this cartridge?
taylor514
Excellent "info loaded" reply Tobes! I'm curious of your gain setting at such low loading. The above review from "10audio" was also very positive. Sounds like the Graham will be a decent match.
The M14 phono is switchable for either 54/60dB of gain.
I'm using the 60dB setting and it's fine with the Jubilee loaded at 22ohms in my system. The drop in loudness level from, say, 100ohms to 22ohms is quite audible - but its not really that big, certainly nothing to worry about if you have 60+dB of gain.
While I'm certainly getting superior image focus, solidity, palpability, space resolution and bass tightness with the lower settings.....that won't mean this is right for your system. Cartridge loading seems to be very system (and listener) dependent. I know someone else who's using the Plinius M14 and Jubilee with a loading of 470ohms. Loadings of 100 or 470ohms sound fine in my system, and provide a more expansive but less defined soundstage - I prefer the greater palpability and focus of the lower loadings IN MY SYSTEM.

BTW, there is one 'niggle' I have with the Jubilee. Ortofon have placed 3 raised ridges on the top of the Jubilee's body - to provide a method of adjusting azimuth for arms with no such adjustment. This of course is not required for the Graham and in fact the right rear 'ridge' is completely outside the Graham's smallish headshell ie only two ridges contact the headshell. You can still tighten down very firmly and adjust for correct azimuth, but I'd prefer a flat top to the cartridge for optimum contact. No big deal I suppose, because the cartridge does sound superb. Oh, and optimum azimuth adjustment is critical to getting the best from this cartridge - as are other fine ajustments.
Just to follow up on relative levels vs loading, I made the folowing quick calculations for the loadings available to me assuming the 5ohm DCR of the Jubilee (approximated to 2 decimal places):
47Kohms = 0dB
1K = -0.04dB
470ohms = -0.09dB
100ohms = -0.042dB
47ohms = -0.88dB
22ohms = -1.78dB

So there is less than 2dB output drop from 47K to 22ohms with the 5ohm Jubilee. Not worth worrying about IMO.
Thanks again for the info Tobes. I have plenty of gain (up to 75db) with my Rhea and the load spread is 75ohm - 47k enough to experiment with! You are correct in saying that it comes down to personal choice and each system will have different results.
Yes, many factors can determine the loading preference. I've been playing a bit with arm damping and VTF (currently using 2.2g) and my preference has reverted to 47ohms for now - 100ohms also sounds better than before. I probably still have less than 50hrs on the Jubilee.