Best way to warm up the sound

Thanks for providing the additional info. Strangely, although the Music Hall web page on the turntable states that "The mmf-5.1 comes complete with music hall magic 3 cartridge mounted. The magic 3 is specially built by Ortofon for music hall," the turntable's manual that is linked to on that page states in six different places that the cartridge is a Goldring. The Goldring model number is indicated as 1012GX, and the recommended load capacitance for it is stated on page 13 of the manual as being 150 to 200 pf (picofarads).

The phono stage has a specified input capacitance of 120 pf. The capacitance of the phono cable, the internal wiring in the tonearm and turntable, and the connectors on the turntable and cable will all add to that, and I suspect would bring the total to significantly more than 200 pf. Given that it is a moving magnet cartridge having high inductance (570 mH per the manual), reducing the total capacitance will most likely reduce brightness, and thereby very conceivably increase perceived warmth.

Approximately how long is the phono cable? (Cable capacitance is directly proportional to length). And are you using the cable that is supplied with the turntable? If not, what make and model cable are you using? And am I correct in interpreting from the manual that the connectors on the rear of the turntable are RCAs, so that you could readily change to a different cable that would be shorter and/or have lower capacitance per unit length? Finally, what is the shortest length that would be practicable for your setup?

On the other hand, if the manual is wrong or out of date and the cartridge is an Ortofon, there is no indication of recommended load capacitance. You might want to email Music Hall directly, and ask them to clarify.

Regards,
-- Al

FYI, the Music Hall MMF-5.1 was originally provided with the Goldring 1012GX cartridge, but later the cartridge was changed to the Ortofon OEM Music Hall Magic 3.

Try a cheap Grado Black to see if the "Grado Sound" does it for you. A grado Red did it for me as a swap for a came with Ortofon.

I know many others will think me a philistine, but in my experience, if you want a truly meaningful, significant degree of change in tonal balance, go straight to the transducers: cartridge and/or speakers. Pay attention to room acoustics and speaker setup, too. Everything else is little more than a minus sign in your checkbook.
-Bob

The cable from the TT to the phono stage is @ 46 inches long . It came from Music Hall .
I could easily go with a 12-14 inch cable for my present setup . The cables from the Phono stage to the integrated amp are copper by Tributaries .
The cartridge says Magic-3 in blue letters on the top and Ortofon on the front in black letters .
The CDP sounds as sweet as ever so I don't see a problem with the speaker or amp set up .
I have an email on the way to Music Hall concerning the load capacitance issue for the Ortofon cartridge .
This is the second reference concerning the transducers offering the biggest change ! hmmm .