I've seen small preamps, made by Pyle, that sell for less than $20, that seem to be marketed to people who have a 'newer' AV receiver--that has NO 'phono' input--so they can also run a turntable (TT) thru an 'aux' input. My question is this....I already own a 'older' receiver that has phono inputs. (Realistic STA-2290). Would it be a good idea to run one of these small preamps between my TT and receiver, to 'boost' the TT's output, so the receiver has a stronger signal to amplify? What is the output of most preamps that are built into the phono jacks? Is there such a thing as 'boosting' the TT output TOO MUCH? The reason I'm going down this road, is that I notice when I switch from playing a record, to playing a CD, I must turn the receiver's volume down, because it is so much louder than the same 'listening level' from the TT....Am I correct in assuming that the listening level for 'phono' NEEDS to be jacked up with the volume knob, because it is so much 'weaker' than what the CD player is sending to the receiver? When I asked the SELLERS of these small preamps these questions, they 'played dumb' and said they had 'no answers' so I decided to come HERE--and ask REAL experts--before making another move....please help!
small, low cost, preamps....advice?
- Thread starter tommieboy
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You can use a variable gain Phono preamp to your Aux input or any input but Phono. A normal cartridge has an output of a a few millivolts at most and a Phono preamp boosts it to about 1 to 2 volts which is about what a CD player or other Auxiliary source supplies. Some outboard Phono preamps do have a volume (or gain) control that will allow you to match volumes in the receiver. Some cartridges are "louder" than others as they have higher voltage outputs.
You can't "stack" a Phono preamp before a Phono input. It will boost the signal too much and it will also mess with the frequency response curve in ways that might not be pleasant. Phono preamps also apply RIAA equalization that should not be applied twice.
An inexpensive choice for you would be the ART DJ Pro as it has adjustable gain. It doesn't cost much more than the $20 you mention.
http://artproaudio.com/turntable_preamps/product/djpre_ii/
You can't "stack" a Phono preamp before a Phono input. It will boost the signal too much and it will also mess with the frequency response curve in ways that might not be pleasant. Phono preamps also apply RIAA equalization that should not be applied twice.
An inexpensive choice for you would be the ART DJ Pro as it has adjustable gain. It doesn't cost much more than the $20 you mention.
http://artproaudio.com/turntable_preamps/product/djpre_ii/
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Yes, that would be a good experiment that costs nothing except for a cable. It still might not end up with a volume that is similar to the CD but it might and thus solve the problem. Tommieboy, doing this would bypass the volume control on the Realistic receiver.
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Thanks guys....the one line from all this that makes the most sense to my feeble brain is, "You can't 'stack' a Phono preamp before a Phono input." That is what I NEEDED to hear, from somebody who knows more about this stuff than I do! So far, I see no replies contradicting your advice, so I am going to accept it as 'Gospel' The rear access to my stereo rack is a God-awful nightmare, that is not conducive to experimental changes; so I think I'm just gonna forget about getting a preamp, and leave well enough alone....just have to jack the volume a little on the receiver for albums, or get a higher output cartridge. Thanks again!
So....in effect, what you are doing is NOT boosting the Phono, but 'backing off' on the CD & tuner units, to make them all pretty much 'equal'? Will that do any harm to the CD player, by restricting its output? Seems like it would be less of a hassle to just keep re-adjusting the volume knob! Thanks for your input....always glad to hear another voice!
Tedrick
Infinity-phile
What you are experiencing is perfectly normal. It is quite common to have to turn up the volume a bit more when listening to your turntable to get the same listening level as a CD, tuner, etc. You don't need to do or fix anything unless you just want to experiment with outboard phono preamps (which can become a very slippery slope 
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malden
Lunatic Member
Yup, that's the way it works. I was just saying that the output of the turntable doesn't have to match that of any other component.
I put attenuators in-line so that if I had listened to an LP at a fairly high level and I switched to tuner or CD, there wasn't a huge beat of loudness.
I think I ended up with -16dB for the very hot CD player, and -10dB on the tuner.
Now with all three playing, there's virtually no change in level from one to the next.
And a properly built attenuator has no effect on the input device and virtually no effect on signal quality; I would say NO effect but purists would ague that the additional dividing network and RCA MUST degrade sound Q
Yes, every link in the chain degrades sound quality, by some small percentage. Whether one can actually hear the sum total of that degradation is subject to debate, and a host of variables, not the least of which is the aural acuity of any given listener, must also be considered.
Yep. I had the same question awhile back. Noticed that I had to turn the volume dial higher when on phono to get same volume as CD, etc. My research told me that is to be expected.
Decibel_116
AK Subscriber
Manufacturers that include internal phono preamps in their equipment have to design for a range of phono cartridge outputs (normally 2.5 - 5 mV for MM cartridges and as low as 1.6 mV for HOMC). The preamp must be designed to prevent an overload (and related distortion) from a higher output cartridge. Therefore, the amount of volume increase or decrease is ultimately dependent on your selected cartridge's output. For a midrange output cartridge it would be expected that the volume control may have to be higher than a "fixed" line level source such as a CD player or tape deck. Of course some CD players and tape decks have output level controls which would allow for adjustment for preferred volume settings.
Cheers!
David
Cheers!
David