Tools

Cartridge Loading Calculator

Moving-magnet cartridges are sensitive to capacitance. Your tonearm cable adds some, your phono stage adds some more, and the total affects how the treble behaves, so most makers publish a recommended range. This adds up what your system has and checks the total lands inside it.

Moving-magnet and moving-iron cartridges with published electrical figures.

Both are on the cartridge's spec sheet. Not the 47 kΩ input load.

Leave blank for 95 pF — our Clear Wave 2.0 cable, measured per channel.

From the phono stage's manual. Leave blank for a typical 100 pF.

Total load capacitance

Pick your cartridge, or enter its inductance and DC resistance, and the loading result appears here.

The calculation assumes the standard 47 kΩ moving-magnet input, and it covers the electrical behaviour only. A cartridge's mechanical design is tuned on the assumption that it sees the recommended load, which is why staying inside the range matters more than chasing any single figure. Moving-coil cartridges barely react to capacitance, so this calculator is for moving-magnet and moving-iron types. If you don't know your phono stage's input capacitance, its manual usually lists it.

Check the mechanical match too — resonance calculator →