You aren't going to find ANY cartridge with an output significantly greater than 5 mV. And if your phono section can make do with only 1mV input, I would say your max'd out as far as being able to drive the linestage section of your integrated amplifier. If you want to make changes, I would go for quality rather than trying to find a cartridge with higher output voltage or a phono section with more gain. Just make sure you have some guidance in choosing a cartridge and maybe an outboard phono stage that are well matched. For a system like yours, you might consider the iFi iPhono2, as an outboard phono stage; you would plug that, or any outboard phono, into a pair of hi-level input jacks on your integrated (NOT into the "phono" inputs).
Improve volume from turntable with a new cartridge?
Hi all,
I am getting back into hifi after years of iPod and computer speakers. Last week I bought a Music-Hall integrated amp and a pair of B&W 686 S2 speakers, and a JL Audio powered 8" sub-woofer. CD player is a Sony CDP C-445 multi-disc player that I bought for $100 used. Turntable is one I have from years ago, a Technics SL-D2 direct-drive with a plastic-looking Grado cartridge, not sure of model, it was back in the early ’90s.
This morning I tried to do an A/B comparison between my turntable and my CD player. Music was Pink Floyd’s "Dark Side of the Moon". Old scratched 20-year-old CD versus brand-new bought yesterday LP from the local vinyl store.
It was difficult to do a proper A/B because every time I switched to the phono input on the amp, I had to increase the volume to about 2 o’clock, and when I switched back to the CD input I had to dial back the volume to about noon.
The amp has a phono input so I am assuming it has a built-in phono pre-amp, right? If so, why is the volume still so low? Would upgrading to a better cartridge increase the volume? I am open to a newer, better-quality turntable if it will improve the sound considerably. I have hundreds of LPs, about half of which are in good condition and would probably be good to listen to after a good cleaning, BUT I also have hundreds of CDs, and if the turntable / LP would not yield significant improvement over the CDs, then I am hesitant to invest further in analog.
So.... back to the point... if I could get close to the same volume from my phono as I do from CD, it would be easier to do a decent A/B. Could a different cartridge in my existing turntable achieve that?
Alternatively I could check with my local hifi store and see if they would let me bring home and test-drive a turntable.
Sorry for the long post. Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for your time and advice.
Eric Zwicky
Richmond VA
I am getting back into hifi after years of iPod and computer speakers. Last week I bought a Music-Hall integrated amp and a pair of B&W 686 S2 speakers, and a JL Audio powered 8" sub-woofer. CD player is a Sony CDP C-445 multi-disc player that I bought for $100 used. Turntable is one I have from years ago, a Technics SL-D2 direct-drive with a plastic-looking Grado cartridge, not sure of model, it was back in the early ’90s.
This morning I tried to do an A/B comparison between my turntable and my CD player. Music was Pink Floyd’s "Dark Side of the Moon". Old scratched 20-year-old CD versus brand-new bought yesterday LP from the local vinyl store.
It was difficult to do a proper A/B because every time I switched to the phono input on the amp, I had to increase the volume to about 2 o’clock, and when I switched back to the CD input I had to dial back the volume to about noon.
The amp has a phono input so I am assuming it has a built-in phono pre-amp, right? If so, why is the volume still so low? Would upgrading to a better cartridge increase the volume? I am open to a newer, better-quality turntable if it will improve the sound considerably. I have hundreds of LPs, about half of which are in good condition and would probably be good to listen to after a good cleaning, BUT I also have hundreds of CDs, and if the turntable / LP would not yield significant improvement over the CDs, then I am hesitant to invest further in analog.
So.... back to the point... if I could get close to the same volume from my phono as I do from CD, it would be easier to do a decent A/B. Could a different cartridge in my existing turntable achieve that?
Alternatively I could check with my local hifi store and see if they would let me bring home and test-drive a turntable.
Sorry for the long post. Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for your time and advice.
Eric Zwicky
Richmond VA