2. amps-preamps
  3. 126293-371

Would increasing the gain in the amp give more weight to the sound? Any negatives?

I have an integrated amp with passive preamp section and I feel that the sound is not full-bodied enough. The separate phono stage has 42db of gain and I use MM cartridge. When I play cassette deck, the sound is just right in this respect.
I talked to the designer, and he said that increasing the gain is theoretically possible, though time consuming.
And if I do want to increase the gain - by how much? The amp is 120 watt/ch/8ohm, speakers are 89db efficient, 8ohm.
inna
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
He has up to 8v! available from the Ph-1 phono stage and if it’s a low impedance output (<500ohms), there is no "signal strength" problem.
As most amps only need .5-1v in for full output into clipping, so why add even more gain with additional noise as well??

Cheers George
erik_squires
16,839 posts
 
@czarivey Of course, I'm talking relatively. Unplug the amp and of course body will be affected too.

In my experience however, an impedance mismatch is more likely to cause a weak, or whimpy sound than gain. Your mileage may vary.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
I don't think he has an impedance mismatch, as the phono is solid state, unless they did something really stupid to make it high impedance output like some tube ones are.

I think it may be a case of the tonal balance of the cartridge or what the loading by the phono stage is, as he says the cassett deck is fine. 


Cheers George
inna OP
7,923 posts
 
Yes, recordings made from records sound just fine, no complaints about the cartridge. The AcousTech has only two fixed settings for MM and MC.
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
So what is this "body" that you guys are talking about? I'm no expert but based on my (limited) experience, this lack of "body" is either because of at least one poor quality component in the sound chain or poor impedance mismatch if the components are all top shelf. Using a tape out and the phone in and the rest of the chain makes it more difficult to pinpoint the weakest link in the chain. All the best.
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