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MM Phono Stages With Greater Than 40 dB of Gain?

One of my favorite phono cartridges is the Ortofon MC 2000, I have it with the T2000 SUT. Even so the combined output is still low, and going into my Esoteric E-03 phono stage I have to add a lot of additional gain from the pre amp.

Since I no longer use the Esoteric for direct input of moving coil cartridges I thought I might see if there is a better choice for a MM style phono stage that offers greater gain.

I have looked a bit, but not seen anything jump out. Anyone have run across an excellent MM only phono stage with higher than 40dB of gain?

neonknight
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rauliruegas
13,021 posts
 

@mulveling : 3180 is even a " little " better. 

Please contact: rauliruegas@hotmail.com  

 

R.

lewm
12,892 posts
 

Mulveling, it’s a simple matter to change the load resistance of an MM phono stage. I use 100K ohms in all of mine. Anything higher in value than 100K must be for the case where you want to use a SUT with a high turns ratio (>1:10) and the cartridge has a high-ish internal impedance (>>10 ohms). I’ve not encountered that situation.

transnova's avatar
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transnova
350 posts
 

I also use the wonderful parasound JC3 JR. If you want to have a bit of fun, you can pick up a Fossi audio tube based phono preamplifier for around $50 on eBay. It has a selectable gain switch. I believe the top game is 45 db. The thing sounds surprisingly good!

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