What causes high capacity in MM?

[Rushboy]

I see the Lejonklou Gaio has 68pf capacity.
The Naim phonoboards the Naim X3 or Supernait 3 have 470pf !!!
Isn't that way too high for Naim?

[Tendaberry]

Yes, for most cartridges this is too high, since in addition to that you have to add the capacity of the phono cable and tonearm cable.

[Rushboy]

In the Naim forum, however, some users say that a Linn Adikt sounds excellent with the Naim MM.

[Charlie1]

It certainly works well with vintage Naim and also the Nait 50 but I think Naim replicated older phono settings in the 50.

[Tendaberry]

It certainly works well with vintage Naim and also the Nait 50 but I think Naim replicated older phono settings in the 50.

No, the Nait 50 has a 100 pF phono input.

[Charlie1]

Ah, right, thanks for correcting me. Had a look back at the Naim forum and this is what I was thinking of, "The RIAA EQ of the Nait one was replicated in the new circuit." and "I copied the 0.15dB 40Hz bump in the RIAA frequency response from the Nait 1 to give it the same character. Technically this is an error but an error that was deliberate and suits the small Nait."

[ThomasOK]

Ah, right, thanks for correcting me. Had a look back at the Naim forum and this is what I was thinking of, "The RIAA EQ of the Nait one was replicated in the new circuit." and "I copied the 0.15dB 40Hz bump in the RIAA frequency response from the Nait 1 to give it the same character. Technically this is an error but an error that was deliberate and suits the small Nait."

I would imagine that the 40Hz bump my also have been there to suit the Kans!

[Rushboy]

What effect does the high capacity have on the sound?

[chefren]

What effect does the high capacity have on the sound?

Typically it will cause peaking and premature falloff in the treble. There can be significant differences in brightness between different loading of the same MM cart, so it is worth trying to get at least close to the recommended cart specs. There is more information here: https://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/load ... ets_e.html

I really do wonder with some manufacturers, where the sum of the capacitance of their own tonearms' cabling + their own phono stages are nowhere near low enough to meet their own load recommendations for their own cartridges (cough..Roksan..cough).

With the load recommendations for modern carts, the Lejonklou capacitance seems like a very sensible value, keeping in mind that a typical tonearm's cabling will be 100pF or more.

[Tendaberry]

What effect does the high capacity have on the sound?

If the capacitance is 300-400 pF too high, it will produce a sizeable bump in the frequency response around 7-10 kHz and thereafter the frequency response drops rapidly. If your cartridge has a high inductance (around 1000 mH), this behaviour will be even more pronounced. This is the theory anyway...

[Charlie1]

I would imagine that the 40Hz bump my also have been there to suit the Kans!

Nice!

[sktn77a]

With the load recommendations for modern carts, the Lejonklou capacitance seems like a very sensible value, keeping in mind that a typical tonearm's cabling will be 100pF or more.

Agree, this is true for most modern cartridges. The frequency response plot for the Shure M97xE in the above link appears to be at optimal capacitance loading (250pF). At the loading of the old NAIM standard (470pF) plus about 100-150pF for arm cabling, the high frequencies disappear pretty quickly above 10k:

https://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/shure_m97xe_e.html