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Increasing gain for your vinyl front end when pre-amp doesn't quite have enough juice

Hi Folks, just wanted to get your thoughts on what route you would go if your pre-amp (I’m talking about a normal pre-amp, not phono preamp) doesn’t quite have enough gain for very high listening levels for my turntable set-up. Now, on my phono-pre amp, there is a setting for maximum gain (schiit Mani) up to 59db, but the S/N ratio takes a hit and goes down to 70db, however, it does pump out the needed volume. What about the idea of putting in a good (inexpensive headphones amp/preamp - one of those $99 guys - like schiit Magni, JDS Labs Atom or Monolith Liquid Spark) between the phono preamp and the regular preamp? Does this have the potential of producing the needed gain while at the same time not degrading the signal too much (perhaps not as much as full gain on the Mani?) Just wanted to see what you all think. To me it seems like less items in the signal chain the better, but if it has a higher S/N ratio could be a better option? (with the added benefit of listening to vinyl through headphones, which I’ve never done before.)
bstatmeister
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
A minor correction to something I said in the first of my posts dated 4-27-2019. When I said:

Since the power amp only provides balanced inputs, it will interpret 0.567 volts provided to it in single-ended form as 0.567/2 = 0.28 volts.
Usually the gains and sensitivities of balanced inputs of a power amp are specified based on the difference in voltage between the two signals on the XLR connector, rather than on the voltage of each of the two signals. And usually the output power that would occur in response to a single-ended 0.567 volt signal provided to a balanced input would be the same as if it were a balanced pair of signals having a difference of 0.567 volts (i.e., each signal being 0.28 volts). A look at a schematic I found for the particular amp adds confidence to that conclusion.

The rest of my post remains as stated, except that the reference to "less than 1/4th of the voltage required to drive the amp to full power ... with the volume control set at max" becomes "less than 1/2 ...." as a result of that correction.

Regards,
-- Al
wspohn's avatar
wspohn
607 posts
 
Don't dump the Vandersteens lightly - they are a classic speaker.  Check the surrounds on the bass drivers, though (that means desocking them) or just by ear to make sure they haven't deteriorated - I had to do them on my Vandie 4As a few years ago.  Or move up to a good used set of Vandersteen 3A (even the Sigs) given that you like the sound.  They are readily available used in good condition.

bstatmeister OP
537 posts
 
Don’t worry, I won’t. I may end up back with the Vandy’s if the others aren’t cutting it. I feel like I am on a speaker journey, however, and must see what else is out there...
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bstatmeister OP
537 posts
 
@chakster the Zu's look nice but pretty darn pricey. I could possibly do the dirty weekends, but that's about it since $ is tight. Are you a fan of the dirty weekends? 
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