Convert cartridge output voltage to db gain

More gain will get you more noise and you do not say that the output is too low, only noisier. What you need is higher output or a lower noise phono stage. Another consideration is the impedance matching of the cartridge to the input of the phono stage.

Gain = 20xLog10(V1/V0), so you need to have two voltages to calculate it.

Kal

66db phono amp should be more than enough for 0.24mV cart. What kind of noise are you talking about? If it is groove noise, higher gain isn't going to help. If the phono amp itself is noisy, it is more of a quality problem than gain problem.

Thanks for the input so far. Well I assumed it was a gain issue because I have to turn the volume knob up to around 2 o'clock to get satisfactory listening levels. When I play CD's, the volume knob is around 10 o'clock for the same listening level. In my old preamp/amp setup, I did have to turn the phono up louder than the CDP, but it wasn't as drastic. Phono was about 11 o'clock, CD around 9 o'clock.

FWIW, previous amp was 75 wpc, the amp section in my current integrated amp is listed as 80 wpc.

Sidssp, the phono stage is solid state, and was not noisy in my old preamp/amp setup. It does seem like surface noise, but my cartridge, speakers, and phono stage have not changed. I sold my preamp and amp (both tubed), bought an integrated amp, then I noticed the change. CD's play with no noise issue. The integrated amp has a tube line stage and tube power amp sections.

Kal, where would I find V1 and V0?

Cheers,
John

My cartridge is low enough, about .35mV that to get it to sound the same as the CD player the volume has to be turned up. Paul Marks, the phono preamp creator said it was a matter of the gain of the phono preamp combined with the cartridge output that made it necessary. A slightly higher one, .65mV was mentioned, would obviate that necessity.
So some part of it is the gain issue, but not the noise issue.