thanks for your reply. Output impedance for the cartridge is 5 ohms. I'll have to look into step up transformers to educate myself a bit. When you say it's maxed out and I'm hearing what happens to all but the best, are you talking about the background noise when the volume is cranked?
Concerned about my cart/pre pairing
Long story short..
I started with a Dyna DV20x2HIGH and a Dynaco PAS3x, then upgraded the pre to a Rogue RP-1. One day was cleaning my table and #%&%! up the needle, so I just coughed up the money for a new DV20x2LOW now that I had the Rogue's choice of higher gain setting for MC carts (58db). Purchased from a reputable local dealer. In reality when making the purchase I didn't know too much about how cart specs/phono stage gain, etc works (I'm just starting this HiFi journey), just went with what was suggested. Now, I notice that I really have to crank the preamp volume sometimes when listening to records and the output is definitely less than it was before. It still sounds good, but on the occasion I do crank the volume to near max (50-60 out of 60) I hear some noise in the upper ranges, maybe a little hiss. After doing some research about the subject I'm concerned that the 58db gain on the RP-1 might be too low for the 3mv rating on the cart, and I'm missing out on the best performance of the Dyna cart. Obviously when switching to my Bluesound NODE the volume output is WAY higher.
So....at the end of the day I still enjoy the sound, but feel concerned about having to have the volume so high, and wonder if I'm missing other things like detail, dynamics etc....or am I over thinking this?? Do I really have to invest in a new phono pre in the future? Was this not a good match?
Thanks in advance!
I started with a Dyna DV20x2HIGH and a Dynaco PAS3x, then upgraded the pre to a Rogue RP-1. One day was cleaning my table and #%&%! up the needle, so I just coughed up the money for a new DV20x2LOW now that I had the Rogue's choice of higher gain setting for MC carts (58db). Purchased from a reputable local dealer. In reality when making the purchase I didn't know too much about how cart specs/phono stage gain, etc works (I'm just starting this HiFi journey), just went with what was suggested. Now, I notice that I really have to crank the preamp volume sometimes when listening to records and the output is definitely less than it was before. It still sounds good, but on the occasion I do crank the volume to near max (50-60 out of 60) I hear some noise in the upper ranges, maybe a little hiss. After doing some research about the subject I'm concerned that the 58db gain on the RP-1 might be too low for the 3mv rating on the cart, and I'm missing out on the best performance of the Dyna cart. Obviously when switching to my Bluesound NODE the volume output is WAY higher.
So....at the end of the day I still enjoy the sound, but feel concerned about having to have the volume so high, and wonder if I'm missing other things like detail, dynamics etc....or am I over thinking this?? Do I really have to invest in a new phono pre in the future? Was this not a good match?
Thanks in advance!
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- 18 posts total
It still sounds good, but on the occasion I do crank the volume to near max (50-60 out of 60) What is 60? 50-60% out of 100% ? 58db Gain should be enough for 0.3mV cartridge. On one of my phono stages I use 60db gain for lower output (0.25 mV) cartridges. The volume control on my passive preamp is about 50%. I have another phono stage Gold Note PH-10 with higher gain (optional gain settings) and I want to tell you that you have to use the lower possible gain if you satisfied with the sound. I do not use higher gain settings even if I can. SUT is not necessary better, probably you don’t need it, but you can try. 0.3mV is not so low output for MC, I have cartridges with 0.15 mV and even lower. You could check the tubes in your amp, there are just 2 tubes, you could change the tubes (it can be huge upgrade if you will find the best 12AU7 tubes) Specs for your preamp: - Tube complement: 2 x 12AU7/ECC82 tubes
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There is additional information here on cartridge/SUT matching https://www.vinylengine.com/tools.shtml |
- 18 posts total