Yes. I just learned about phone stages and gain. Got to be aware of that. You also need to be aware of the max gain your preamp can handle. I have an Ortofon 2M Black and was running it through a Simaudio Moon 310LP which through the balanced outs runs at 48dB. No issues. I was going to “upgrade” to the Parasound JC3+. But I was getting electrical distortion in time with the music. Through the balanced outs on the Parasound it produces 54dB of gain. Somewhere in between 49-54dB is the threshold of my system preamp where is can be overdriven by the phono preamp. I am waiting for delivery of my new phono stage which will have 48dB from its balanced outputs. If you use single ended outputs exclusively this is less of an issue as single endeds have about 6dB less gain. Bottomline: figure out what your preamp’s threshold is and avoid picking a phono stage which will overdrive it.
Phonostage preamp HELP
All -
I just purchased a Clearaudio Innovation with a Koetsu Black cartridge. I currently have a Manley Chinook phono preamp. Give the Koetsu is rated at .4mv, I’m not getting the volume/Headroom I had previously with my Soundsmith Aida which was a high output moving iron. I love the sound of the Koetsu but I need more juice! Any recommendations would be appreciated.
I just purchased a Clearaudio Innovation with a Koetsu Black cartridge. I currently have a Manley Chinook phono preamp. Give the Koetsu is rated at .4mv, I’m not getting the volume/Headroom I had previously with my Soundsmith Aida which was a high output moving iron. I love the sound of the Koetsu but I need more juice! Any recommendations would be appreciated.