Best way to warm up the sound

Easier to give advice if you list the components in your current system ...

I would have thought the cartridge would be the clearest and perhaps, cheapest way to change the sound. I don't want to generalise as I have'nt had many, but I find Ortofon on the brighter side of neutral, excepting the SPU range. So another range like Grado or even the cheaper Koetsu's, may be the way to go.

To answer your questions...

I am getting a very neutral and clear sound , a really nice change from the digital world of CD's . But I would like a warmer sound something like an EL-34 tube sound .

I am using a Primaluna Prologue II integrated amp which I have rolled the input tubes and changed out the KT-88's in favor of EL-34's for a warmer overall flavor .

If anyone is familiar with my Granite 657 CDP , this is the degree of warmth , from the tube side , that I am seeking .

Thanks for the submissions , please keep them coming .

Something's not right here. I don't doubt what you are saying at all, but before you go out and buy more gear, I can't help but to think you may have a setup issue, or something similar. The first thing I have to ask is how much time do you have on your cart.? A new phono cart is like no other piece of gear when it comes to break in. They sound defective when they are new. For the first 20-30 hours, you can usually hear a change from record to record. I would say to put at least 100 hrs on it before you actually judge it.

After that, look at all of your setup details and make sure everything is within the specs for the gear you have.

If your phono preamp allows for different settings, you may want to try some of them and see if that helps.

If you have a way to check how fast your TT is spinning, you definitely want to check that. It could be running a little fast.

Does "MF" refer to Musical Fidelity, or to the Music Hall MMF series, or to something else? And is the Ortofon cartridge a moving magnet type?

I second the comments by Zd542. I would add that if the cartridge is a moving magnet type, in addition to breaking it in before reaching any conclusions I would suggest that you experiment with different load capacitances. Load capacitance will profoundly affect the tonal balance of moving magnet cartridges in the treble region, and reducing brightness in that region may very conceivably result in a perceived increase in warmth.

If you can provide links to specifications of the cartridge and the phono stage, and indicate the length and type of the phono cable, it may help us to determine what should be done to optimize load capacitance.

Regards,
-- Al