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So please, don#8217;t contact me to insult me about my rule!
For this rule, we#8217;ll use a spec given by the manufacturer: the load impedance. We#8217;ll take this load impedance as meaning a load impedance recommended for active transformers (and not for passive devices). This data certainly includes things relavent to important characteristics of the cartridge we don#8217;t know, but that must be considered.

A manufacturer generally gives you a minimum load impedance for active devices (or a range, but it#8217;s less common).

If the load impedance (for active devices) is said to be > or equal to 20 ohms, the internal impedance is 3 ohms, you should try to load your cartridge at load impedances between:

the load impedance given by the manufacturer (20 ohms)
the load impedance given by the manufacturer + 10*internal impedance (50 ohms)
Now, for a 40 ohms internal impedance cartridge with load impedance for active devices of 100 ohms, you should try load impedances between 100 and 500 ohms. If your system is too bright (suppose you#8217;re having triangle loudspeakers#8230;), you will certainly be happy with something that will #8220;cool down#8221; your sound, so try something close to 100 ohms. On the contrary, you may be happier with something closer to 500 ohms.

Now, my opinion: I never hear satisfactory results when the load impedance on a passive device is equal to the load impedance indicated by the manufacturer (we understand as load impedance on an active device). You#8217;ll try and you#8217;ll tell me. We#8217;ll see later the way to test different load impedances but you don#8217;t need to test 100 values between 100 and 500 ohms : something like 3 or 4 value is enough and in our case, you could try 100 ohms (and you#8217;ll tell me), 200 ohms, 300 ohms and 470 ohms (with a 1:10 transformer).

If the manufacturer is proposing a range of load impedance (say between 20 and 200 ohms), follow that range by testing say, 50 ohms, 100 ohms and 150 ohms.

Do you think things are over? No, they aren#8217;t! The load impedance is an important thing BUT it#8217;s only the first important thing to consider. Remember that the natural impedance is directly linked to the gain of your step-up.

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If the load impedance (for active devices) is said to be > or equal to 20 ohms, the internal impedance is 3 ohms, you should try to load your cartridge at load impedances between:

the load impedance given by the manufacturer (20 ohms)
the load impedance given by the manufacturer + 10*internal impedance (50 ohms)

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