2. analog
  3. 155138-9304

Phono stage for 0.2mv cartridge?

  I am looking for a quality phono stage with at least 72db of gain.  During this last year I obtained a Canary MC10 which sounds beautiful but I am somewhat volume limited and listen at such high volume control settings that tube rush has become an issue.  At 69.5db of gain I hoped that the Canary would work out but...
  Most of the popular stages like the Herron and the Manlely Steelhead seem to run in the 66-70db gain range.  Reviewers seem to routinely report on these phono stages using cartridges with low outputs but that runs contrary to my experience so far.  Any suggestions appreciated.

Bill
wbs
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Al
Great post.
However do you not think also that in general the OP is having to run a lot higher line stage gain even on a digital source than one would expect?
This indicates to myself a potential downstream problem that might be compounding the phono issue.

For instance if I tried to run -10db on my BAT ( which has a range -68 to +22) from my DAC, I would fear for the health of my ear drums and windows!
almarg's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
almarg
9,670 posts
 
Hi Uberwaltz,

It’s hard to tell at this point. The additional info you and Goheelz requested will help shed light on that, of course, and your point is certainly a possibility. But given the mention of 90 to 95 db levels and symphonic recordings that presumably have wide dynamic range (probably vastly wider than the dynamic range of most pop and rock recordings), it seems to me that everything downstream could be hunky-dory.

Best regards,
-- Al

uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Al
That also makes sense as that is not my genre and even with good older rock recordings there is generally a higher level of inbuilt compression and not the vast dynamic range and swings of a full blown symphony.

And just looking at numbers the difference between -10 and +5 is quite something on its own.
Not what one would expect from a true 69.5db gain at the phono.
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
An unusual phono in that it caters for MC only with no options of gain having a fixed 69.5 db and that’s it.
7 tubes total, I would not think one of those would be cause of lack of gain.
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Another piece of information that might help would be what was used prior to the Canary acquisition?
Another Phonostage or using the c100 phono input?
And how was it prior to the Canary in the system with the same carts?
More to discover