cartridge output level

Hi Larryi, I agree it's not going to be easy to find a suitable alternative to the Colibri, i read something about Decca London and I don't think it's for me, at this time I'm curious to hear about the Clearaudio Titanium (0.8 mv), suggestions are welcome. The tube rolling suggestion is indeed interesting, also Rlawry said something about that, he named Mullards, you Amperex, looks like my options are widening thanks to you guys. I know the stock tubes are mediocre, Hovland don't encourage rolling though, they say the unit has been optimized around those tubes. To their credit, I have to say that I tried putting some telefunken NOS, but i went back to stock tubes because, even though there was a very slight improvement in noise, I felt I lost some depth in soundstage. After that first experiment, I gave up tube rolling, but after your reports maybe I should try harder. I will also make sure the unit is not defective, thank you.

Hi Cptaz,

While I don't think VDH can increase the output of your particular Colibri, they offer a H.O. version of the Colibri with over 0.65mv of output. This is the one (copper) I have. So, if you really like the sound of the Colibri, you may consider this option.

I have a CAT tubed preamp and the owner also discourages the use of NOS tubes, and it certainly is not sonics as NOS tubes are way superior in that piece. My take is that the builder cannot guarantee a supply of NOS tubes, only current production versions. I am not buying the statement that the preamp was optimized for current production tubes. NOS tubes are almost always superior sonically, and remember that it sometimes takes time for them to reach their optimal sonics. The reason for the particular volume control taper where the steps are small initially and increase after 12:00 is to give smaller volume steps for line-level inputs. Clearly you need a faster taper, but again, your problem sounds like one of noise. The gain of any piece of equipment can be increased or decreased through the use of different resistors and/or power supply, but it may degrade sonics due to overload, noise, or other factors. So it appears as if your choices are a higher-output cartridge like that mentioned by Thekong, a phono stage with more gain, another preamp with more gain, a power amp with more voltage gain (the power may or may not be affected depending on how the current amplification is affected), or perhaps some higher sensitivity speakers.

I would boil it down to getting quieter tubes. It's your cheapest and possibly best option considering you're not disliking the current situation that much.

Hi Thekong, yes since your first post I've been checking out VdH website and I saw what you're talking about, a trade-in would be very well worth considering.
Rlawry, I think I'm gonna be pretty busy for the months to come to explore all the options, comparing costs and sonic advantages, one italian hifi magazine lately reviewed your preamp, the CAT Ultimate phono, plenty of gain and killer sonics but expensive, it kinda turned me on.
Hi Piedpiper, yes that will probably be my first attempt, I just have to figure out how to start, I mean which tubes to buy first and where.
Again, I want to thank all of you guys for all the inputs, I'll get back to you with my findings.
Cheers,
Marco