2. analog
  3. 1047827881

Cartridge Loading and Gain

Help! I have an old low output .2mv/1khz/5cm/sec dynavector cartridge, along with a lehman black cube phono stage, batvk5i preamp, levinson 331amp, and innersound eros speakers with active crossover and amp (mk1 version). The innersound amp was replaced, and the replacement amp has significantly lowered gain. While this works okay for cd playback, i now do not have enough gain to play my vinyl at reasonable volume. My question is twofold: what is the correct loading for this cartridge? The cube has a variety of loads for mc cartrdges - 47kohm, 470 ohm, 100ohm, and 80 ohm. I have read that mc cartridges prefer loading in the 100 range but would like some advice on this. I don't think the loading will impact the gain, so part two is, how do I fix this gain issue so that I can enjoy vinyl again with the least amount of capital expenditure?

I see my options as the following: higher output cartridge (I really like the sound of the low output dynavector though), higher gain phono stage (the lehman has 60db of gain and the BAT has 20 db so I'm not sure if I can find a phono stage with that much more gain for reasonable money), three - upgrade the innersound amp (a very expensive proposition) or four - some sort of step up device before the phono stage. I would appreciate any suggestions or thoughts on this matter -

Thanks - Scott
scotty_910

Showing 1 response by scotty_910

scotty_910 OP
119 posts
 
Thanks for the assistance guys. Sounds like if I want to keep the low moving coil cartridge, my best options are either a phono prestage with enough gain to handle it (right now 60db of gain are not enough), or to add a step up. I would welcome any suggestions on what gain level might be enough with a phono stage alone. Regarding adding a step up, in looking on the web, ear makes a step up, dynavector makes a "head amp", and it looks like a company called jensen makes quite a few step ups for very little money (although it appears they are made more for manufacturers than for end users but I can't really tell yet. Any advice on these would be greatly appreciated. I am going to have to buy these sight unseen unless I can find a manufacturer who will give me in home trial due to my location.

Thanks
More to discover