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Low volume on turntable??

Hi everyone, so I’m new to vinyl and have a lot to learn but I just hooked up a my first turn table, and with my preamp at maximum volume, and amp at full gain, it was still veryy quiet and had no depth/bass. The turntable is an old Denon DP-31L that I just installed a new cartridge in (AT-95E) --->Cary Audio AES SE-3 preamp---->McIntosh MC2125--->Klipsch RP-5’s. The system sounds magnificent running .wav vinyl rips with a Monarchy DIP upsampler--> Emotiva XDA-1 DAC in between my comp and the preamp, so there must be something wrong with either the unit, or how i hooked it up (basic built in RCA to preamp, with the integrated ground wire running to the Mcintosh chassis). On the plus side the ultra-quiet music has no hums, or background distortion whatsoever, even at full volume.

Any advice or thoughts would be much appreciated! Cheers
hockey4496
mofimadness's avatar
mofimadness
4,993 posts
 
Your Cary preamp doesn’t have a phono stage in it. It’s line level only. You will need to get an outboard phono stage or buy a new preamp that has a built-in phono input.

RIAA, (cartridge) output needs to be boosted to a higher level.

Here's a pretty well written, altough a little basic, discussion on preamps/phono stages.

http://www.co-bw.com/Audio_All_about_phono_preamp.htm
marktomaras
544 posts
 
yep, that would do it!  you defiantly need a phono stage somewhere in the system.  My first phono pre was a NAD PP2, a cute little thing that works pretty well for the price.  I upgraded eventually to a PS Audio GCPH, which was a more robust unit with more options and a finer sound.  I then went for a tube model with the Audio Research PH3SE, and my current model is a Whest PS.30R.

This represents an initial spend of less than $200, and ratcheted up to $3,500.  I can happily say that I was pleased with each and every one of these phono preamps, and they are all spaced out in price.  On Audiogon, you could probably get the NAD for $80, the PS Audio for $550, the ARC for $1000, and the Whest for $2,000.  So depending on your budget and your commitment to vinyl, anyone of these would be a fine choice, at least in my opinion.

Good Luck!
hockey4496 OP
104 posts
 
That's very good advice, although it is certainly disappointing I have to spend $$ money to get this thing running.

thanks all!
hockey4496 OP
104 posts
 
Is there a price point for a phono stage that would not be worth exceeding because my turn table is not the best quality? Or is it the other way around?
jond's avatar
jond
5,861 posts
 
@hockey4496 I would imagine something like this Rega Fono for $250 would do the trick and be great bang for your buck.

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/phono-rega-fono-mm-2016-04-06-preamplifiers-94804-richmond-ca
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