My turntable sounds bad with new AV Receiver. Help!

mobylovr

New Member
Hey all -

I have been using a Project Debut Carbon turntable with some older Klipsch speakers and a vintage Marantz 2220B stereo receiver with built in phono input. I have always enjoyed the sound from this, but it wasn't ideal for my TV setup in the same room, so I wanted to upgrade the receiver to support 5.1+TV.

I recently purchased new Klipsch Reference speakers, sub, and center at huge discount, with a new Yamaha rx-v481 AV receiver to support my tv with 5.1 surround sound as well as my turntable. The surround sound with this receiver for TV/Movies sounds good enough to make me happy, but then when I switched the input to the turntable, it sounds flat and boring. I couldn't believe how disappointing it was, and I guess I am surprised that I am audiophile enough to notice right away. I played a few different records, and they all sound dull. I played around with the settings on the receiver, and had my wife listen to see if I was making it it up (she quickly confirmed I wasn't). I am also using a Cambridge Audio 640p preamp with this Yamaha receiver, so it isn't due to the lack of a phono pre-amp (which is what all the other forum topics are addressing on my google searches).

I am starting to read/learn that modern AV receivers can't compete with stereo receivers at the same price for a variety of engineering reasons that I am still comprehending. However, I am not interested in paying $2000 for an 5.1 AV receiver that was also support my turntable, but is that really my only option if I want to get close to the sound that I had before with my old stereo receiver? Are there brands/models that people can recommend, or a different setup where I can use the same speakers for both tv and turntable and would bring the price down a bit? I am looking at the Marantz NR1506 but I fear that it won't be much of an improvement to the Yamaha. I am willing to give up the fancy features as long as I can get good sound and futureproof myself to a 4k setup.

Thanks in advance!
 
Just use your Marantz for records... buy yourself some banana plugs so you can switch the wires to the Klipsch from the Yamaha to the Marantz easily. Or you can wire a speaker switch in reverse for even easier switching (there are threads on how to do this on this site). As long as you can get both receivers into that setup, it's a simple and cheap way to get the sound you already had.

You could always setup a stereo setup in another room too with your old equipment. I don't know if you have the space, but worth thinking about.

I'm am not at all surprised you are disappointed with the sound you now have. And chasing the upgraded A/V receiver rabbit hole probably still won't get you the sound you like.
 
The surround sound with this receiver for TV/Movies sounds good enough to make me happy, but then when I switched the input to the turntable, it sounds flat and boring.

The specs on the Yamaha don't look bad - 80 watts per channel with two channels driven. I wonder if you're listening to the turntable with some of the AV processing still engaged?

Can you try getting the Yamaha to play pure two channel sound without any of the sound processors engaged? I'd try and turn off all of these: dynamic range controls, extra bass, compressed music enhancer, and virtual cinema front. I'd also try to set it so that the only sound I got was coming from the front two speakers and the sub. Some of these AV receivers have a "pure audio" setting that lets the amp work like a simple two channel amp.

For me, a lot of the "3d" effect of music comes from the wide differences in dynamic range. If your AV is trying to play everything at the same volume, then a lot of the cues that add to the illusion of space are being masked.
 
The phono pre in the AVR maybe of much lower quality the the one in the 2220B. If this is the issue, then you can add a good outboard pre like this:
http://schiit.com/products/mani
which would be connected to an AUX input on the AVR.
And as mentioned above, use a 'pure direct' mode on the AVR so that the DSP in the AVR doesn't degrade the signal.
Cheers, Jim
 
Quote from OP: "I am also using a Cambridge Audio 640p preamp with this Yamaha receiver, so it isn't due to the lack of a phono pre-amp (which is what all the other forum topics are addressing on my google searches)."
 
Use the Marantz for TT. IF the new receiver has a zone 2 pre-out, wire it to the aux input on the Marantz.
When using Marantz, the A/V receiver essentially becomes a huge Aux input switcher.
This way, you get either receiver for just about anything, except TT, which goes through Marantz only.
I'm doing this so that I can run any of my equipment through the Marantz for music listening.
I use the A/V receiver for TV/Video/Gaming.
 
Hey all -

I have been using a Project Debut Carbon turntable with some older Klipsch speakers and a vintage Marantz 2220B stereo receiver with built in phono input. I have always enjoyed the sound from this, but it wasn't ideal for my TV setup in the same room, so I wanted to upgrade the receiver to support 5.1+TV.

I recently purchased new Klipsch Reference speakers, sub, and center at huge discount, with a new Yamaha rx-v481 AV receiver to support my tv with 5.1 surround sound as well as my turntable. The surround sound with this receiver for TV/Movies sounds good enough to make me happy, but then when I switched the input to the turntable, it sounds flat and boring. I couldn't believe how disappointing it was, and I guess I am surprised that I am audiophile enough to notice right away. I played a few different records, and they all sound dull. I played around with the settings on the receiver, and had my wife listen to see if I was making it it up (she quickly confirmed I wasn't). I am also using a Cambridge Audio 640p preamp with this Yamaha receiver, so it isn't due to the lack of a phono pre-amp (which is what all the other forum topics are addressing on my google searches).

I am starting to read/learn that modern AV receivers can't compete with stereo receivers at the same price for a variety of engineering reasons that I am still comprehending. However, I am not interested in paying $2000 for an 5.1 AV receiver that was also support my turntable, but is that really my only option if I want to get close to the sound that I had before with my old stereo receiver? Are there brands/models that people can recommend, or a different setup where I can use the same speakers for both tv and turntable and would bring the price down a bit? I am looking at the Marantz NR1506 but I fear that it won't be much of an improvement to the Yamaha. I am willing to give up the fancy features as long as I can get good sound and futureproof myself to a 4k setup.

Thanks in advance!
 
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I think the easiest approach is to use the Marantz as phono preamp only.

Connect the tape out to a line level input on the AVR.
 
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