Weak ROTEL phono section

I don't think that there is a problem (apart possibly from the "flatness" you mention, which I can't offer an opinion on). Having to set the volume control to 2 or 3 p.m. for phono, and much less for cd (say 10 a.m.) is very common.

If you look at the specs for the RC1090 in the manual for which HiFiTime provided a link, you'll see that for 1 volt out the preamp requires 2.5mv input in mm phono mode, while for line level sources it requires 150mv input. Those numbers presumably are with the volume control turned all the way up. Your 6.5 mv cartridge exceeds the 2.5mv by 8.3db. If your cdp puts out the 2 volts or so that is typical, that would exceed the 150mv by 22.5db.

So your volume control will have to be set (22.5 - 8.3) = 14.2 db lower for cd than for phono, if everything else is equal (including the level of the recording relative to full scale). That is a very considerable amount, which is also fairly common due to the high output levels that cdp's typically have.

Regards,
-- Al

Andrew,

I strictly use RCA outputs of the RC-1090 (and RCA inputs of RB-1090) cause these Rotel designs are pseudobalanced, so no any benefit from XLR connections.

Perhaps Almarg is right - you have to accept differences in loudness between CD and turntable as purely normal. Such a difference in some normal amount exists in my system too.

Cheers

If the cd works ok,there shouldn't be any problems with the balanced outputs to your amp,otherwise the cd would show the same characteristics.If your new to vinyl,it maybe the difference in dynamic range.When cd's first came out,I thought I was going to blow my speakers(plus have a heart attack)the first time I played a cd at home.I imagine if I was new to vinyl,I may think it sounds weak at first if I was used to cd's only. If its a new cartridge,it may sound different from your old one.I don't have all the knowledge like Almarg does,but I've been through a lot of different audio equipment also,and like he says,the volume difference has been common for me also.Hopefully its nothing so you can enjoy the music.

Thank you for these excellent, helpful posts.

I think you're both right, but I don't know, having to put the volume at 3 o'clock with such a "hot" cartridge doesn't quite add up.

I'm not expecting "cd volume" but a little more would help.

You're welcome! Another contributing factor is that the power amp, according to the specs in its manual, has an input sensitivity (for full power, and for the unbalanced inputs) of 1.6 volts (3.2 volts for the balanced inputs), while the specified output of the preamp is 1 volt. That results in having to set the volume control higher (for both phono and cd) than you would have to if the preamp had a higher output and/or the power amp had a lower sensitivity number.

Using the balanced inputs won't change that -- you'll probably have 2 volts out of the preamp (between the "hot" and "cold" signal polarities, instead of 1 volt between signal and ground in unbalanced mode), but the power amp sensitivity changes correspondingly (from 1.6 volts to 3.2 volts).

Regards,
-- Al