MC Pre-preamps


Pardon my ignorance folks, but is 45dB gain sufficient for low-output moving coils, or is more required once one gets down to about 0.2mV or so? More than adequate for my DL160's 1.6mV I've found.
thanks
tubiwan

Showing 2 responses by darkmoebius

You need +77dB total gain to boost 0.2mV to the 1.4V input sensitivity of your B&K Components ST-140 amp. Your DJ PRE II phono preamp has a max gain of +45dB, so your B&K Components CS-115 line preamp would need to add at least +32dB gain.

The CS115 manual says that it has an input sensitivity of 150mV and a max output of 9V RMS(12.7V peak), that implies +38.5dB gain (I think, experts please correct me).

Which is a long-winded way of saying - "You should be fine"

BTW, I have a Denon DL-103D which has 0.25mV output.
Throw me in the "very skeptical" camp if not downright shocked if it would work. With a .2 mV cartridge you are going to require around 64 db of gain from the phono stage ALONE to properly match up
Ooops, thanks for the correction HDM. I wrote that post ate 2:30 AM last night while trying to watch "Sopranos" reruns. Obviously, the brain wasn't working right. It's a "no go" on the 0.2mV cart with his current setup.