Moving coil cart current setup
- Thread starter Krumm2005
- Start date
Balanced and unbalanced refers to whether you use the XLR input or RCA input respectively, not speaker output. Which is not an option you have given the USP-1 only has unbalanced outputs. Similarly, I use an Emotiva UMC-200 processor feeding an XPA-5 amp and likewise must use unbalanced connections.
I do, however, use balanced connections in two other systems.
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Those specs state that the MC gain is approximately 60dB (why approximately?) and the MM gain is 40dB, so if the OP's preamp is the same (big if) the MC has 20dB more gain than the MM setting. That would appear quite normal.
For the OP to use a SUT to get more volume the turns ratio would have to be sufficient to give him more than 20dB. Actually, that's not too difficult.
I wonder if there's really a problem at all. If the music is as loud as you'll ever want and the signal-to-noise ratio is good, there's no problem.
TO BALANCED OUTPUT.
If it were for the phono stage only, yes. It appears to be not. Do you find a tape monitor output that is balanced?
Because "Phono (Moving Coil; phono in to balanced out)" as found on the website and manual is correct?
That wasn't my point. The point is that the mc setting is 20dB more than the mm setting. As far as I can tell, the OP was happy when using an mm cartridge.
No, I was speculating that there isn't really a problem because the OP can get the system loud enough and hasn't complained of a poor signal-to-noise ratio. He would just prefer the same volume with a lower setting of the volume control, but if it's loud enough, what more do you need?
While the volume is acceptable for my current living situation, I am wanting it to get much louder with the home we will be purchasing over the next few months. I think an SUT is the answer to get this to where I want it to be. I’m thinking a used Denon AU- 300 or 310 would do it.
Regardless of the position of the gain control, are you able to fully drive the amplifier potentially to clipping?
It doesn’t seem to unless I’m listening to something with deep bass.
LOMC cartridges require lots of gain. Seems you need more.
While I've used a SUT in the past, my strategy for the past thirty five years is to use a mid output MC cartridge and fairly high gain two stage preamps.
Both the AU-300 and the AU-310 have turns ratios of 1:10 which will give you 20dB gain. Although Emotiva don't give specs for your preamp, if it's the same as the other preamp the mc setting will give you 20dB more gain the mm setting, just the same as using the SUT would. That means using an AU-300 or an AU-310 will be no louder than using your preamp's existing mc setting.
A turns ratio of 1:20 would give you a bit more, but not a huge amount. You'll get about 5dB more.
The short answer is Acoustat 1+1s in the HT and Sound Lab U-1PX in the main system. More details and pics available if you follow the link on my profile page.
The comparison between the cost of the Xsp1 and the usp1 is about in the two is quite large (the msrp for mine is $500 and the new one is $1200). The usp1 only has the MC option at 240ohms, while the xsp has 100, 470, or 1000 ohm options for MC. Would this cause the xsp to have higher gain when comparing the two?
Wowza, you got fat boys and skinny men. Beautiful setups!
The resistance options have no effect on how much gain there is. They can make a subtle difference to sound quality but don't determine how much gain you will get.
It's possible that you're getting confused by all the talk of "matching impedance" that surrounds discussions of SUTs. Often you'll see transformers described in terms of impedance but that's because transformers are purely passive and transform voltage into current and vice-versa, or transform impedance (which is the same thing). Active gain stages don't work the same way.
Ditto Rothwell’s answer. The XSP has a balanced output stage which is more related to its additional cost.