Can anyone help me on Audio Research PH 3SE?

The helicon is a very low output cartridge.Your PH3 should
be used with a medium output cartridge.Your phono pre-amp
does not have enough output for this cartridge.

Did you put this package together by yourself?
If a dealer put this together,he should have known better!

I may be incorrect,but the phono cartridge you are using has an output of about .220 microvolts.(I may be wrong on that figure) The PH3&SE are made for medium to high output moving coil cartridges or moving magnets. I own an Audio Research PH3SE also and it just doesn't have enough gain for your cartridge at 54db. And the gain on the PH3SE is not adjustable. You need at least 10db more gain maybe more. So other than getting a different phono section or cartridge. I would not want to get another either as the Arc unit is very good. I would suggest you invest in a quality step-up transformer for movivg coil cartridges. There are many to choose from such as the Ortofon units or better. Figure a $100.00 on up depending on what you get. Set the input impedance back to 47k to properly load the transformer and the correct taps off the transfomer to match your cartridge. If after adding a step-up transformer you have too much gain it can be reduced as per the Audio Research instruction sheet #79300034 available from Audio Research. This will reduce the PH3's gain by aprx. 13db. If things get too loud after adapting a step-up transformer to the input of the PH3. I am sure you can get a very good compromise. Many MC phono sections use this method to aquire the correct amount of gain for low output cartridges. I see this as your easiest and most affordable way to get everything working without major selling and buying from scratch. Hope this helps and good luck.

Hi...I have the same PH 3SE but with the ARC LS 25 line stage. I have a Helikon also. I set my line stage pre-amp to the "high" level (there are 3 on the 25) and I usually set the volmne control on the 25 to about 1-2PM.....and the volumn in my room is more the fine. It may be something with your Classe?? Check the ARC web site for the level controls on the LS 25....I believe they are quite high and when mated with the PH3 it is enough for mid-output MC's.
I hope that helps....
Rick

The PH3 SE only has 54dB of gain, which is a on the low side compared to many other MC phono preamps, which are generally closer to 60dB or even 70dB. The Helikon comes in a couple of versions. The standard version has an output of .5mV, which would be considered a medium output MC cartridge. The SL version is a low output version at .23mV and is considered to be a bit more refined than the medium output version. You didn't say, but my guess is you have the low output SL version which would explain your need to turn the volume up so high. As long as it is enough gain and not too noisy for you I wouldn't worry about it. Otherwise you will need to send me your SL, which will work well with my 70dB phono preamp, and get the standard version. I'll take good care of it. Or you can try a different phono preamp. One final comment is the input impedance will not make any difference in gain.

I'm in the exactly the same situation and I use an Ortofon T1000 step-up transformer. You can do better if you get EAR one.
A good step-up device is fare above $100. Otherwise you'll get too much of unwanted distortions and noise from your descent analogue setup.

Limsp,
what version of Helikon do you have? If it is normal version(not SL), ARC PH3SE should have enough gain. I have ARC PH3SE with 0.5mv version of Helikon, Shelter 901(0.5mv) Koetsu Rosewood sig.(0.6mv) and have no problem with gain from PH3SE at all.

Do you know what the dB gain of Classe 47.5 is? does it have balance output option?
Are you using long length interconnect between phono pre to preamp or preamp to amp?
Are you using single ended IC between pream to amp or balanced?

Limsp- Is the problem that with the pre-amp volume control turned all the way up that there is insufficient sound level, or is it possible that you think that the pre-amp volume control should just be at a lower level? Given the premise that "no volume control is the best sounding volume control," turning the volume knob up to a high position is actually preferred. As long as the sound quality is not degraded by excessive system noise, you're better off running the volume control at the higher position. Good luck.

54db is likely the bare minimum gain for a .5mv Helikon.

My system was set initially with 58db and recently jumped it to 64db via a Krell phono stage for experimentation. So far I like what I hear.

If your Helikon is the low output version GOOD LUCK!