2. analog
  3. 170064-166241

Low volume with phono stage and hegel 190

Just bought a hegel 190 driving my b&w 804s.
Plugged in my rega fono3 phono stage .
Dropped on a album to listen to and wow really low volume even with amp turned to max.
Cartridge is a dyavector 10x5.
Measured the dB at max and came with 84db at 1m.
Plugged my musical fidelity a1001 amp back in got the same dB for 40% of the volume using the same phono stage.
Could turn the A1001 amp up to way past party levels before the woofers bottomed out on the suspension. And the volume was at only 70% 
The hegel is rated at 150 Watts rms class a b and my A1001 is rated at 200watts rms class a b.
Anyone else had issue's with anologue inputs with the hegel 190? Any advice on a higher output than the fono3 which I think is 41.3 dB of gain. 
ardtullaich
ardtullaich OP
2 posts
 
Thanks for all your replies .
I agree it's the rega fonos problem being a low gain.
So this afternoon I bought a Trichord Delphini mk2 MC/MM phono stage today off ebay which has adjustable gain for mm up to 52db and  for £380 it was good value .  I was about to order a Dynavector p45 mk4 when I saw the trichord.
lewm
13,168 posts
 
Excuse me, but I must be missing something. From reading your opening post, I got the impression that you did not change the cartridge. You only changed the amplifier. Is that correct? If so, then the problem is not necessarily your phono stage, because the phono stage was adequate to drive the first amplifier to levels that got good sound pressure levels out of your speakers. That is why I asked you about the input sensitivity of your new amplifier. Input sensitivity is a measure of the number of volts going into the amplifier that are required to make the amplifier produce its maximum output. Amplifiers can vary greatly in their input sensitivity, just as cartridges vary greatly in their signal voltage output.
ardtullaich OP
2 posts
 
All good now !
Trichord Delphini mkii arrived today . Absolute mint condition. Bloody thing ways a ton.
Set phono stage gain  to 48db for MM.
Now all is good again. 
Know I can play my vinyl at my normal listening levels.
And what a great sounding phono stagw
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