Ceramic Cartridge

[by the way]

I need a preamp for a VM turntable that has a ceramic cartridge. What I’m finding when I search preamps are MM, MC and MI. There are some out there that have a switch for either MM or MC. I’m assuming that is the one I’ll need.
Any information would be appreciated.

 

[63pontiacgp]

I need a preamp for a VM turntable that has a ceramic cartridge. What I’m finding when I search preamps are MM, MC and MI. There are some out there that have a switch for either MM or MC. I’m assuming that is the one I’ll need.
Any information would be appreciated.

I would think that a ceramic cart wouldn't need a phono preamp. It's pretty much line level.

Mike

 

[swechsler]

Yep, and the equalization is done mechanically, for the most part.

 

[Bill Ashton]

A ceramic cartridge is typically a "high level" output, so no extra preamp should be needed; plug the tt into an "Aux" jack and it should work well...

 

[by the way]

I’ll try that. I guess I’m a little confused with the fact that connecting the turntable through a very old preamp, it improves considerably the output.

 

[orthophonic]

While they are close to line level, they require a load of about 1 megohm, otherwise they will sound thin with no bass.
Tube preamp line level would be satisfactory but not ideal. Solid state preamp line level would not be satisfactory without the load.

Older solid-state and tube preamps had inputs for both ceramic and magnetic to give the proper load.

 

[by the way]

I am looking into an RCA SA-155 preamp. It has the ceramic switch you are referring to I think.

 

[orthophonic]

The ceramic switch should work fine.

 

[egellings]

I would think that a ceramic cart wouldn't need a phono preamp. It's pretty much line level.

Mike

A problem I see with the ceramic cart is that they need an input stage with a very high input impedance, like 400k to a meg or so. Plugging the cart into an AUX input would likely load it down too much. A simple noninverting gain-of-one op amp buffer or similar (Hi-Z input) would likely work well to solve that.

 

[flavio81]

I need a preamp for a VM turntable that has a ceramic cartridge. What I’m finding when I search preamps are MM, MC and MI. There are some out there that have a switch for either MM or MC. I’m assuming that is the one I’ll need.
Any information would be appreciated.

There is a circuit from Sonotone that will adapt a ceramic cartridge so it goes inside a MM input:

Sonotone – Network for Magnetic Input (DIY)

History A ceramic cartridges is constant-amplitude device and thus, if plugged into a high impedance amplifier which does not load it down, the result is very nice pleasing sound without a real need for a RIAA equalization (see for example Connoisseur-SCU-1-Owners-Manual). However, all modern...

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