The 42dB gain recommendation comes from the following calculations. The Jolida needs 670mV of input voltage drive to hit 10W. The Ortofon 2M Blue puts out 5.5mV. So 670mV / 5.5mV = 122 times gain or 42dB gain. With only 38dB, the amp can only put out 4.5W as it runs out of voltage drive. As I said in the earlier email, if you feel that the current gain arrangement is OK, then the regular Budgie should be fine. It has very similar gain to your Cambridge Audio 551P (38dB vs 39dB).
Need some preamp expertise
I’m looking into getting a Budgie Phono Premap to replace the Cambridge Azure 551p in my system. I currently have a Pro-Ject Debut III, Ortofon 2M Blue, Dali Zenor 1’s, a Jolida FX 10. Right now my set up is kind of a mess; the Dali’s don’t really pair well with the FX10; and the Cambridge 551p (@ 39dB) doesn’t really have sufficient gain for the FX10.
I would really like a tube preamp and found the Budgie Phono Preamp for $399. I emailed the owner who is extremely helpful and suggested that his Budgie Hybrid Amp for $599 would be a better fit for my integrated tube amp (which he says needs at least 42dB) since it produces 46 dB gain. However, he said if I feel that if the current gain arraignment on my system is okay, then the regular Budgie should be fine.
This is my question, does the insufficient gain level of the preamp effect the sound quality of my music; or is the gain just a function of driving more power to the amp making it more efficient in driving the speakers thus allowing the music volume to be cranked louder. As it is now I feel my set up sounds pretty good and do not need a “louder system”. My listening room is quite small so I never crank it up. If my system is turned on, no music is playing, and I turn the volume all the way up; I can hear some humming (which I’m assuming is due to the lack of gain from my preamp, my speakers being somewhat inefficient, or both) however this does not bother me as I can't really distinguish the humming when music is playing, nor do I usually have the volume control turned up that high. Basically I don’t want to pay an extra $200 is it’s not going to make a huge difference in sound quality; the $399 is already stretching my budget. Down the road I might upgrade to some more efficient speakers.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!