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phono upgrade vs replacing stylus

Looking for some insight / help with my dilemma.  I am building a pure 2 channel vinyl system, after a 30 year hiatus from vinyl and falling away from a true early in life passion for music. I dug out my 1970's vinyl, bought a set of speakers, integrated amp and a turntable and realized I absolutely love the commitment to putting on an album and staying present in the moment.  This is a bit tough to say as my company thrives in digital technology.  My first system was / is, KEF LS50's, Music Hall Ikara with Ortofon Blue, and a PS Audio Sprout, this is the system that woke me up again.  But after a year, I'm wanting a bit more "fullness" of sound. I have purchased a set of used Tyler Acoustics Signature Monitors, 2 Music Reference RM10 tube amps, Lightspeed Attenuator (new),a Tom Evans Micro Groove Plus, (purchased on Audiogon), and am thinking of keeping my Music Hall Ikara turntable.  I have a dedicated room 22 x 15.  Finally down to the issue, I purchased the Phono preamp with out asking the question of how it is set up, because all the phono's I was looking at had adjustable inputs, I simply did not verify.  Okay so down to the actual issue, I received the phono pre, hooked it up and couldn't believe what I heard which was absolute disappointment in what I had done!, I failed to ask the correct question and now need to pay the price to learn my lesson.  Should I replace my Ortofon Blue or send the Tom Evans back to the factory and pay the price to have it upgraded, after freight around $450 US.  The Tom Evans is currently setup for .2mv 100R, again its the Micro Grove +.  

I am truly ignorant to the benefits of different setups and am depending on the reviews and recommendations of the Audiogon community.  

Should I send the Tom Evans back to the factory and have it modified to work with my Ortofon Blue and or Upgrade to the new Micro Grove MKII +, or change my stylus to a setup that works with the Tom Evans as currently setup.

Thank You for any and all insight.





chju1986
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
@roberjrman- There  are pluses and minuses to both step-ups and active gain stages. Different strokes for different folks.

OP-I can't find an overload value on line, but the input sensitivity of the micro-goove + appears to be 0.4mV.  Your cart outputs more than 10x that voltage!  OTOH, the peak output of the microgroove is 1.2 volts, while the line stage standard is 2 volts.  Your "pre-amp" is an attenuator only,  so you might need the gain from an active, even after you get a better match of cart to phono stage. 

There are potential impedance matching issues between "passive" pre-amps and upstream and downstream components, but that does not seem to be the case here.  You did not mention your interconnects, but interconnects longer than about 3' CAN cause a roll-off in the highs, particularly if they are relatively high in capacitance. 

There is a pretty good discussion of this here:   https://www.tortugaaudio.com/articles/what-is-a-passive-preamplifier/
but remember it's from the perspective of a manufacturer of passive pre-amps. 

Hopefully the Denon will give you some idea of which way you want to go on this; there are a lot of "moving parts" ;-) 
imhififan's avatar
imhififan
2,146 posts
 
DL103 need an heavy arm to sound its best!
chju1986 OP
6 posts
 
swampwalker, I appreciate the way you explained the mismatches, seems that I have a lot to learn.  
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
@chju1986- No problem.  We learn as much if not more from our mistakes as from our successes.  One piece of advice; rules of thumb are just that.  I'd try the Denon first and then work your way through the other pieces of the puzzle.  And don't give up on the Lightspeed.  I have one and it gives 80% of the performance of my active pre-amp that retails for more than 10X more!  One of the biggest bargains in this hobby.  For transparency, it's at least as good.  Of course it to only has one input and one output, does not handle XLR connections, and IMO, the music lacks a little of the emotional weight that the active gives.  But it's one heck of a pre-amp if it matches with your other pieces and you only use one source.  
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