Hi Guys
I have had an early Christmas present - a Uphorik phono amp.
The rest of my system is Dynavector 20XL2 / IttokVII / LP12 / Cirkus / Tramp2, Lingo 1 / Majik Kontrol / 2200 / Ninkas.
Lovely sound - has got me into another league.
Obviously I have been playing with settings for loading the cartridge. The specification of the cartridge = 30 ohms, with no reference to capacitive load.
I prefer 42 ohms with 1.5 nF.
I know the answer of course is "tunedem" but out of interest, what do other people use.
I am also slightly confused about this loading. Naim Superline users seem to load their cartridges with values around 500 ohms. Linnies seem to be around 50 ohms on their Uphoriks.
Could this be because Naim have already soldered a resistance across the input of say 50 ohms, and the addition of the 500 ohms brings it down to forty something (can't be bothered to work out the 1 / R1 = ...... formula.) And presumably Linn do not; i.e what you dial up is what you get.
Any other tips or comments.
I gather from my dealer that Linn were going to post a web page with recommended values for all common MCs. I can't find this.
Thanks
Don
Loading for Moving Coil cartridges
Moderator: Staff
There is a thread about this on the Linn Forums under the Sondek LP12 heading:
http://forums.linn.co.uk/bb/showthread.php?tid=10332
However so far there haven't really been very many values posted.
Linn also has an online manual for the Uphorik with a page for cartridge settings. It has space foe Non-Linn cartridges but as of this writing the only values are for the Dynavector XX2 Mk2. Linn has requested people to submit values they have found to sound the best using the tune method but there apparently haven't been a lot forthcoming so far.
http://news.linn.co.uk/help/Uphorik/Uph ... Manual.htm
Since the XX2 Mk2 has a listed internal impedance of 6 Ohms and recommended load resistance of >30 Ohms, and the 20X2L has internal impedance of 5 Ohms and recommended load resistance of >30 Ohms I would expect the loading to be pretty much the same. If nothing else it should be a good starting point. Good luck and let us know what you find.
http://forums.linn.co.uk/bb/showthread.php?tid=10332
However so far there haven't really been very many values posted.
Linn also has an online manual for the Uphorik with a page for cartridge settings. It has space foe Non-Linn cartridges but as of this writing the only values are for the Dynavector XX2 Mk2. Linn has requested people to submit values they have found to sound the best using the tune method but there apparently haven't been a lot forthcoming so far.
http://news.linn.co.uk/help/Uphorik/Uph ... Manual.htm
Since the XX2 Mk2 has a listed internal impedance of 6 Ohms and recommended load resistance of >30 Ohms, and the 20X2L has internal impedance of 5 Ohms and recommended load resistance of >30 Ohms I would expect the loading to be pretty much the same. If nothing else it should be a good starting point. Good luck and let us know what you find.
Thank you Thomas for your helpful reply - as ever!
Well I have now had a good chance to try various values and read a bit more about the Uphorik on the net.
At present my preferred values are 1 nF and 53 ohms.
On my system the effect of adjusting the resistance values is not subtle. Too low and the frequency band seems limited, and the sound is tight. Too high and things are a bit too lively and the bass begins to get a bit muddled. The effect of adjusting the capacitive load makes not that much difference - but is clearly audible - brighter - less capacitance. Amazing, if you think about the minimal effect it will have in parallel with 53 ohms - the reactance of 1nF at 10 kHz is about 16,000!
So to my mind, if one cannot hear a difference when adjusting the input sliders, then something else in the system is not working to its optimum.
I can well image the final, most tuneful, setting being also dependent upon your own personal taste, the balance of the rest of the system and your room acoustics. At last we have perhaps a primitive tone control!
I notice, looking around the net that the reaction to the Uphorik has been a bit mixed. Well with my deck I have used - firstly the phono amplifier on my Majik Kontrol - this was fantastic for a pre-amp add-on.
I then went to using an old Linto - which was slightly better, especially in the bass.
The Uphorik is in a different league. It is so honest, detailed and truthful. Just a few of my old favourite LPs do not sound so good now - I can hear production faults and rough tape splices. Mono recordings appear to come from a tiny spot bang between the speakers. Percussion has lost its splashy sound. Piano dynamics are better - individual notes start and fade realistically.
My Uphorik does not have the Dynamik power supply. Is that a worthwhile upgrade - anybody done a side by side comparison??
Thanks again
Don, from sunny downtown York
Dynavector 20X2L / IttokVII / LP12 / Cirkus / Tramp2Uphorik/Lingo 1 / Majik Kontrol / 2200 / Ninkas
Well I have now had a good chance to try various values and read a bit more about the Uphorik on the net.
At present my preferred values are 1 nF and 53 ohms.
On my system the effect of adjusting the resistance values is not subtle. Too low and the frequency band seems limited, and the sound is tight. Too high and things are a bit too lively and the bass begins to get a bit muddled. The effect of adjusting the capacitive load makes not that much difference - but is clearly audible - brighter - less capacitance. Amazing, if you think about the minimal effect it will have in parallel with 53 ohms - the reactance of 1nF at 10 kHz is about 16,000!
So to my mind, if one cannot hear a difference when adjusting the input sliders, then something else in the system is not working to its optimum.
I can well image the final, most tuneful, setting being also dependent upon your own personal taste, the balance of the rest of the system and your room acoustics. At last we have perhaps a primitive tone control!
I notice, looking around the net that the reaction to the Uphorik has been a bit mixed. Well with my deck I have used - firstly the phono amplifier on my Majik Kontrol - this was fantastic for a pre-amp add-on.
I then went to using an old Linto - which was slightly better, especially in the bass.
The Uphorik is in a different league. It is so honest, detailed and truthful. Just a few of my old favourite LPs do not sound so good now - I can hear production faults and rough tape splices. Mono recordings appear to come from a tiny spot bang between the speakers. Percussion has lost its splashy sound. Piano dynamics are better - individual notes start and fade realistically.
My Uphorik does not have the Dynamik power supply. Is that a worthwhile upgrade - anybody done a side by side comparison??
Thanks again
Don, from sunny downtown York
Dynavector 20X2L / IttokVII / LP12 / Cirkus / Tramp2Uphorik/Lingo 1 / Majik Kontrol / 2200 / Ninkas