loading resistor question

I would use plain old carbon resisters until you find the best value. Once that is achieved, I would think a wire wound may be the best, or one of the best.

I like 500 ohm the best so far. 1k ohm is a bit tippy bright. 200 ohm is a bit too dark.

The Sutherland PhD has a loading card which you fill with resistors of your choice. The cards have a limit on the size of the resistors. A standard axial 1/4 w resistor size would fit. Not shure Vishay TX2575's lead will fit the through hole on the card. These look like 1/2 watt resistors.

I'm with Doak too. Other good choices are tantalum types made by Shinkoh or Audio Note and Caddock TF020 or MK132. This is the most critical use of a resistor in your audio system, IMO, and the choice does make a difference.
It's a bit dangerous to use carbon here, even for trials, because they tend to have wide tolerances. So if you play first with carbon types, plan to measure them with an ohmmeter before inserting them, so you know for sure what you are hearing. And too, a carbon resistor will have colorations that will go away when you substitute a Vishay or a tant or a Caddock, e.g.
I would not use a wire wound unless it was a non-inductive type and you otherwise like it.

So if you play first with carbon types, plan to measure them with an ohmmeter before inserting them, so you know for sure what you are hearing. And too, a carbon resistor will have colorations that will go away when you substitute a Vishay or a tant or a Caddock, e.g.
I would not use a wire wound unless it was a non-inductive type and you otherwise like it.
Lewm (System | Threads | Answers | This Thread)

I suggested the carbon for trial because of the cost. A typical 5% wouldn't make that big a difference in the sound when your changing the values at lot more extreme than that. Vishay resistors are to fragile to keep swapping them out, and buying a handful of different values is way to costly IMO.

This link may be of interest to you. Scroll down to get to the photo and instructions, though I don't know if it will work with your phono stage.