A Plot Twist on LP120?

[Trekkie4]

Thought I'd share this interesting video from YouTube, made by the guy called "AkBKukU"...

This actually raises some valid questions IMO... Because as you all know, one of the most commonly mentioned issues with LP120 was its integrated preamp. In fact, most people recommended to either yank it out, or to bypass it through the phono/line switch & use external one. Which is exactly what I ended up doing on mine, I have it routed through external Little Bear T8, which is then wired into the AUX input. But I still have the internal one, and I'm using its USB feature every once in a while, usually just for analyzing the sound & comparing different carts/headshells.

But this is the very first time that I've heard from ANYONE, recommending to use the internal preamp, as the alternative to removing it entirely. IDK, what are your thoughts about this?

I still have to perform a test myself & analyze the wave forms, amplitudes in Audacity to either confirm or deny this, but with that being said I have no reason to doubt his results *shrug*

 

[vwestlife]

The built-in pre-amp sounds fine, if you use it. But if you turn it off and use an external pre-amp, then it dulls the sound unless you remove or bypass it. (However, that might actually be an advantage if you use it to tame the sound of an overly bright phono cartridge.)

So if you're happy with the built-in pre-amp, there is no reason to do the mod unless you're planning to use an external pre-amp that you know is going to be a major upgrade in sound quality compared to it. But with an average consumer-grade pre-amp or phono input on a receiver, there probably won't be much, if any, audible benefit compared to the built-in pre-amp.

 

[Trekkie4]

The built-in pre-amp sounds fine, if you use it. But if you turn it off and use an external pre-amp, then it dulls the sound unless you remove or bypass it. (However, that might actually be an advantage if you use it to tame the sound of an overly bright phono cartridge.)

So if you're happy with the built-in pre-amp, there is no reason to do the mod unless you're planning to use an external pre-amp that you know is going to be a major upgrade in sound quality compared to it. But with an average consumer-grade pre-amp or phono input on a receiver, there probably won't be much, if any, audible benefit compared to the built-in pre-amp.

Hmm, good point...

I remember reading about LP120 before I actually bought mine, and some folks complained about the "noise" in the integrated preamp. I never really noticed any unusual hum, or noise in mine but decided to go for external preamp just because, to future-proof my setup down the road. Just in case if & when I decide to replace LP120 for something vintage or higher-end, which doesn't have integrated preamp. I also do HiFi equipment repairs every once in a while for friends & family, so it will come in handy to have a dedicated, stand-alone preamp to test vintage gear, such as Thorens TD 110 for example.

As for the LP120, there was a guy on YT, who tested several different preamps with LP120 & AT3600L, including both the internal one AND Little Bear T8. To my ears, T8 sounded better than any other model featured in the video, so there really wasn't any doubt about this. But it never occurred to me that changing the switch to "Phono" would have ANY effects on USB output. Because there really shouldn't be, yet there's obviously some.