Best gain setting on phono pre- low/medium/high?


I have a phone preamp that permits three gain setting, 56dB, 66dB and 76dB. All three are usable, just need to adjust the volume on my preamp differently. What's the best thing to do- use lowest phono gain and more preamp gain, most phono gain and less preamp gain, or stick to the middle settings? 

I know this sounds like the 3 bears. 

I recall reading sometime back that keeping the volume control higher has advantages 


zavato

Showing 2 responses by paraneer

Nothing to do with the three bears.  There is a an exact reason why your phono stage has three gains settings. 

What's your cartridge and specifically is it a MM or a MC?  Also, what phono stage do you have because a min of 56db is pretty high for a MM. 

Thanks.  Your cartridge has an output of 0.4 mV so I would use the 56 or 66 db gain settings and see what sounds best.  Even though your cartridge is a low output MC, it isn't that low to consider the 76db setting.