Is there a list of cartridge capacitance?


My phono stage has various cap values, but I can't see the cap value of my cartridge(Clearaudio Talisman V2 Gold)anywhere in the literature from Clearaudio.

I do have the cap value for my tonearm cables,28pf/ft.

Has anyone found a list of cartridge capacitance that I can use to properly set the values on my phono stage?

Please,I've done enough experimenting, and the answer is there are numerous settings that "sound good", I would just like to confirm if what sounds good to my ears jives with what is prescribed to sound the best vis a vis the correct match up of capicitance between cartridge and tone arm wires.

lacee
I've found that 100 ohms sounds better to my ears than the 400 ohms Clearaudio states.

Also ,30 /pf cap seems to work using the 55 gain setting.

I came upon a review of a review of another Clearaudio cart, the insider and for me this works.

I use Nordost 2 Frey as tonearm wire from my SME V arm and my IC from Steelhead to power amps is Heimdal series 1(why did they not include the WBT next gen on the Norse 2 series ?).

So cable cap may not be as big an issue for me using these cables,but it never hurts to try to get the max performance out of what we have.

Messing about with the cap seetings did change the sound when I was using the Grado Plat and the Rega Exact 2 on my P9 table.

It's been awhile since I was in the MC camp,my first times were with a Fidelity Research FR1mk3f and a Cotter P strapping transformer.I remember how important it was that the transformer be a correct match.

I flit back and forth between 400 ohms and 100 ohms and it seems to add or subtract depending on the LP.

Thanks for all the great advice and references,dialing in a cartridge isn't rocket science, but sometimes it's nice to know if what you settle for is within the accepted wisdom and not out in right field.

What matters is how it sounds after all the fiddling is over with.
Dear Almarg: Thank's to bring those links that I'm aware of.

A>s I posted, I made and have experiences changing capacitance with LOMC cartridges and I can't remember changes on quality level performance. I'm not saying that capacitance can't affect about but if you can't detect it all the theory could be only theory.
Of course that maybe my system has not enough resolution or my ears could be not good enough to distinguish that capacitance subject. Maybe you can do it but I don't know: could you share your experiernces about?, thank you in advance.

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.
06-05-12: Rauliruegas
Of course that maybe my system has not enough resolution or my ears could be not good enough to distinguish that capacitance subject. Maybe you can do it but I don't know: could you share your experiernces about?
Hi Raul,

Another possibility is that your phono stage is able to handle the ultrasonic resonant peak that Jonathan Carr and Atmasphere referred to, which is sensitive to capacitance, without any audible consequences.

My own experience to this point is just with high output MM and MI cartridges, and therefore is not relevant to the question. The intention of my previous comment was just to call attention to what a couple of distinguished designers had to say on the subject, which from a technical standpoint makes sense to me.

Best regards,
-- Al
Input the resistance and inductance for your cart, and input capacitance values to see what the resonant frequency is. I think anything above 20 KHz is fine, so capacitance values up to that resonant frequency should be OK.

Yikes! When you are dealing with LOMCs, there is no need to add any capacitance for loading! That has entirely to do with high output *moving Magnet* cartridges, where loading the cartridge does have an effect at audio frequencies.

By adding capacitance to a LOMC, you move the RF (Radio Frequency) resonant frequency *down*, but not likely into the audio band. The inductance of such cartridges is tiny, so the RF resonant frequency is going to be high. In any event, you will have to kill that resonance with a resistor, not a cap. IOW by adding capacitance in effect you have created a bit of a moving target.

Raul is correct, any amount of loading capacitance offered by the phono section is inconsequential at audio frequencies. It can have a huge affect at RF frequencies though; its the ability of your preamp to handle RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) that says how audible the loading is: the more RFI bothers your preamp, the more important you will find the loading.