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Turning the volume up

Hi. I'm new to analog and just purchased a Mobile Fidelity Ultradeck table. After completing my set up and putting on my first album i find i really need to turn the volume knob up much higher than when  I'm  listening to my digital source. Do I have a compatibility problem with my phono stage and cartridge?   
  I'm using a Belles Aria integrated amp. 

Thanks 

wmbode
lilmsmaggie
273 posts
 
I have an Audio Note IQ3 cart (6.5 mV) mounted on my Nottingham Interspace Jr. TT's tonearm and I have to increase the gain as well. 

Very common for an analog front-end because vinyl requires more gain (power increase of the signal) than your digital sources.   

As @tkr pointed out, the output of your cartridge although low is within normal range.    Explore other MM cartridges with higher output but don't be surprised if you still find yourself turning up that volume control knob.

Enjoy!
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
2 volt output on digital sources is a curse! One volt would be much more useful and still capable of driving most amps to full output!
lilmsmaggie
273 posts
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but I think @elizabeth is referring to the AC voltage required to produce 1 mV of power peak-to-peak.
erik_squires
16,049 posts
 
Maggie,

Nope. Elizabeth is referring to what "full range output" means. That is, the maximum output from a CD player via fixed RCA outputs was decided to be 2V.

More here:

http://www.lavryengineering.com/wiki/index.php/Line_level

Best,

E

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