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Preamp suggestion?

P

Passove

New Member
Hi everyone,

I currently use the following setup:
Turntable: Technics SL-1500 mk1
Cartridge: Shure M91 ED
Amplifier: Denon PMA-520
Speakers: Q Acoustics 3030i

Should I upgrade the setup with a preamp?
I was looking at the budget preamps like the Cambridge Audio Alva Solo, is this preamp a good choice?

Thanks in advance,
 
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Passove said:
Hi everyone,

I currently use the following setup:
Turntable: Technics SL-1500 mk1
Cartridge: Shure M91 ED
Amplifier: Denon PMA-520
Speakers: Q Acoustics 3030i

Should I upgrade the setup with a preamp?
I was looking at the budget preamps like the Cambridge Audio Alva Solo, is this preamp a good choice?

Thanks in advance,
Click to expand...
you may want to consider an EAR clone phonobox and run its output into an AUX input on your Denon.
 
I use a Denon PMA-720AE the 520s larger brother - , albeit highly modified, as a preamp for my system and the phone preamp section is the same as the 520.
It's actually not a bad phono preamp for a budget hi-fi amp. I do like the sound of these amplifiers - very crisp and clear.
The internal phono preamp is equipped with a very clever transformer based hum rejection circuit on it's input. Quite unusual for a budget device.
I use it as the phono input for my second record deck. In my opinion it sounds a little constrained, but you need a decent quality cartridge to really show this up.

As said above, you will find some of the upper budget level separate phone preamps, fed into an AUX input, will improve the phono sound with a decent cartridge.
 
Another discussion with some good info:

Advantage To An Add-On Phono Pre-Amp?

Hi Everyone, I have a very basic stereo system. An Elac Miracord 50HII turntable, a 1978 Technics SA-500 receiver, and ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2 speakers. The receiver has a turntable input to the onboard phono pre-amp, and the Aux. inputs currently connect to my computer and my digital music files...
audiokarma.org
 
Powertech said:
I use a Denon PMA-720AE the 520s larger brother - , albeit highly modified, as a preamp for my system and the phone preamp section is the same as the 520.
It's actually not a bad phono preamp for a budget hi-fi amp. I do like the sound of these amplifiers - very crisp and clear.
The internal phono preamp is equipped with a very clever transformer based hum rejection circuit on it's input. Quite unusual for a budget device.
I use it as the phono input for my second record deck. In my opinion it sounds a little constrained, but you need a decent quality cartridge to really show this up.

As said above, you will find some of the upper budget level separate phone preamps, fed into an AUX input, will improve the phono sound with a decent cartridge.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply, what phono preamp or cartridge would you recommend?
Is the Cambridge Audio Alva Solo a decent choice? Honestly I've never used phono preamps before. A friend of mine suggested that using an external phono preamp will provide better sound quality for the setup..
 
A few ideas for phono preamps:

-Cambridge Audio Alva Solo or Duo
-U-Turn Pluto 2
-Schiit Mani 2
-Hagerman Bugle 3

These are all well regarded phono preamps at reasonable prices. IMO the best place to look is used on ebay, where there are usually a bajillion used units available for sale at great prices.
 
DavidTT said:
A few ideas for phono preamps:

-Cambridge Audio Alva Solo or Duo
-U-Turn Pluto 2
-Schiit Mani 2
-Hagerman Bugle 3

These are all well regarded phono preamps at reasonable prices. IMO the best place to look is used on ebay, where there are usually a bajillion used units available for sale at great prices.
Click to expand...
As far as budget units go the U-Turn would be my pick from this list. I've had all of these and to me the Schiit was the worst. I actually preferred the cheapie Pyle to it.
Sota is a great choice as well. OP didn't state their price point. I'm sticking with my MP7's.


Mike
 
i have some soft spot for pro-ject, they are not an ultimate solution, but its sound is something which i like in most of the cases...i have s2 and ds3b phono pre and both sounds great...
 
The thing about budget phono preamps, under about $150, is that even the good ones sound like budget preamps. It's not that they sound bad, they don't. Some are surprisingly good. But, I always recommend getting the best you can afford. At $400 or less, there are some really good options. The Schiit Skoll has adjustments for everything, all by remote control. The SOTA Pyxi has already been mentioned. If you want to stick with MM cartridges, the Darlington Labs MM6B is an excellent choice. While the Parasound Zphono is MC capable, it's the MM performance that keeps it around.

The Cambridge Audio Solo is a good preamp, but I don't think it's anything special. I'd rather have the iFi Zen Phono 3.
 
63pontiacgp said:
As far as budget units go the U-Turn would be my pick from this list. I've had all of these and to me the Schiit was the worst. I actually preferred the cheapie Pyle to it.
Sota is a great choice as well. OP didn't state their price point. I'm sticking with my MP7's.


Mike
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply. Do you reckon that getting any of these phono preamps will be an upgrade to the phono stage I currently have in the Denon PMA-520?
 
justjed2 said:
The thing about budget phono preamps, under about $150, is that even the good ones sound like budget preamps. It's not that they sound bad, they don't. Some are surprisingly good. But, I always recommend getting the best you can afford. At $400 or less, there are some really good options. The Schiit Skoll has adjustments for everything, all by remote control. The SOTA Pyxi has already been mentioned. If you want to stick with MM cartridges, the Darlington Labs MM6B is an excellent choice. While the Parasound Zphono is MC capable, it's the MM performance that keeps it around.

The Cambridge Audio Solo is a good preamp, but I don't think it's anything special. I'd rather have the iFi Zen Phono 3.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply. Do you reckon that getting any of these phono preamps will be an upgrade to the phono stage I currently have in the Denon PMA-520?
 
Passove said:
Thanks for the reply. Do you reckon that getting any of these phono preamps will be an upgrade to the phono stage I currently have in the Denon PMA-520?
Click to expand...
In a word? Yes. Mostly because they don't share a power supply with any other circuitry. But, also because the signal from a phono cartridge is very small, and easily corrupted by noise from other parts of the integrated amp, like the transformer(s). Keeping the phono pre away from any other components helps reduce background noise considerably.

As @63pontiacgp mentioned, if you're happy with it as it is now, why mess with a good thing? But, if you just want to upgrade to better sound, any of the models mentioned will do the job admirably. I'm partial to Darlington Labs, myself.
 
justjed2 said:
In a word? Yes. Mostly because they don't share a power supply with any other circuitry. But, also because the signal from a phono cartridge is very small, and easily corrupted by noise from other parts of the integrated amp, like the transformer(s). Keeping the phono pre away from any other components helps reduce background noise considerably.

As @63pontiacgp mentioned, if you're happy with it as it is now, why mess with a good thing? But, if you just want to upgrade to better sound, any of the models mentioned will do the job admirably. I'm partial to Darlington Labs, myself.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the detailed answer.
 
Another thing to remember, and this is KEY to keeping sanity and more dollars in your wallet, is that DIFFERENT does NOT equal BETTER. Hobbyists go a little nuts chasing what become tiny 'improvements' in sound when those differences are often just that, differences. It's hard to convince oneself that different doesn't necessarily mean better because it's then hard to justify spending as much as people do. However, it's one of the best things I learned along the way.

If you're happy with the sound you get from your current gear, remember that starting down the road of iterative improvements may or not prove satisfying.
 
I would move on to a better cartridge first. Not to extreme though. maybe a 97. Then next would be up grading the TT to at least one with Quartz lock. Maybe a MK VII or a newer GR. Now we at talking some serious money. But if you have 300 or more precious Lp's thats what I would do. I pushing over a 1000 again and I am going to audition some different 1200 models when I get to San Antonio and Houston in the next two weeks. I just bought a reconditioned 15 inch Mac Book pro air from Apple to keep in touch with you guys and gals with 3 years of Apple care. It arrives tomorrow,
 
twiiii said:
I would move on to a better cartridge first. Not to extreme though. maybe a 97. Then next would be up grading the TT to at least one with Quartz lock. Maybe a MK VII or a newer GR. Now we at talking some serious money. But if you have 300 or more precious Lp's thats what I would do. I pushing over a 1000 again and I am going to audition some different 1200 models when I get to San Antonio and Houston in the next two weeks. I just bought a reconditioned 15 inch Mac Book pro air from Apple to keep in touch with you guys and gals with 3 years of Apple care. It arrives tomorrow,
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply. I am already looking for a new cartridge, probably I will go for the Audio Technica ATVM95EN, from what I'm being told it is a decent budget cart. I live in the Balkans so there aren't any replacement stylus for any of the vintage carts.
 
The M91ED is a fine cartridge it just needs to be loaded with about 400pf to 500pf of capacitance. That capacitance is the total of what the phono pre has plus the capacitance of the tonearm cable. How much capacitance do you currently have? If you need more you can add it with a Y-cable if the preamp you decide upon can't do it or you use the Denon's phono pre.

Edit: The SOTA Pyxi will do 367pf by itself. Add some cap with the tonearm cable and it is all good.
 
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