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Making vinyl louder

Dean Jordan

Dean Jordan

pfm Member
Recently I have scaled back my vinyl system to help pay dome bills and afford some other bits.

ATM my vinyl playback is a rega p1 with standard carbon cart and a project phono se.

Before the project i was running the rega into my gold note ph5 and was happy enough with the output and volume.

Now swapped for the project the output has dropped so much that I have to run the volume on my pre 10/15 higher to get close to the same thing.

I expected a change and am happy with the sound justvthe volume is bugging me. Is there any way of upping this. I.e. different cart or different phono that just outputs higher. What should I be looking for on a spec sheet.

Your input would be appreciated before I I go on a road trip to different dealers.

Many thanks

Dean
 
What were/are the outputs of those cartridges?
If the new one is a low output, try an SUT , or some phono stages can change the gain.
My stage has 4 gain stages 50/56/60/66dB.
Even thought my MC only outs out 0.5mv , i've only got the gain set to 56bB , as more gain means more noise.
Just turn up the volume knob, but remember to reset it to zero or low, before swapping to a louder input ( CD/Streamer etc)
 
Dean, if your looking to stay at the budget end then look no further than the ifi Zen phono (not Zen Air). A superb budget stage with 4 gain settings, MM, HOMC, MC, LOMC, I had one for a while in system 2 and was shocked at its performance for the price.
The gain for the HOMC would give you what you want but still be the 47k load for MMs.
 
The Rega Carbon is an MM and at 2.5mV output it's about half what most MM's output.

It's absolutely nothing to worry about though. Increasing the gain via the volume knob does not make your hifi work harder - as long as there is no noise and you still have a little room to spare on the volume I wouldn't worry about it.

Could only find the Phono Box SE II and that one and the Gold Note both specify 40dB gain on the MM side. Don't know if the Phono SE (MkI?) is different. Though fine as the Carbon is it can be bettered by something like the Rega Exact which has quite a high output of 7mV.
 
just dug out the instructions. 36,5dB. so quite a drop in terms of volume which would explain the difference with the phono stages.
 
Only 2.5mV ? That should be called a LOMM.

Forget trailing round dealers or swapping phono boxes, just buy a different cheap £50 cartridge with a normal output.

capt
 
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Hi Dean, you could try playing about with the dip switches which might help. I’ve always found with Rega MM carts including the Exact, the gain seems a bit on the low side and just upped the volume to compensate.
 
Also, some people put attenuators to reduce the input voltage to their amps so you get more range on the volume control so having to turn it up a bit more may not be a bad thing.
 
Assuming your pre/integrated doesn't have its own MM input (which is why you're using a phono stage I guess), either a higher output cart. or a more sensitive stage is about your only sensible options. Having sold off kit, I doubt you'd want to buy more to ameliorate the loss of gain. Generally, having a mismatch of not enough signal output to load the ph/stage, can result in a thinner sound with possibly more noise (depending on quality of amp) and therefore apparent reduction in bass/slam/dynamics. If this is not so in your case, keep as is until you need a new cart; grin 'n' bear it !
 
I use a voltage divider for digital input. This brings it on-par with my 3.5mV MM cartridge. Phono stage gain is 41dB.
 
HifiDan said:
Hi Dean, you could try playing about with the dip switches which might help. I’ve always found with Rega MM carts including the Exact, the gain seems a bit on the low side and just upped the volume to compensate.
Click to expand...
Hi Dan, there is only 1 mm setting the rest are MC and the ohms is just to low.

Like music in a bucket lol.

I will carry on the good fight but might be a new rega cart on it soon to see if that makes much of a difference . Lucky
 
Agree a higher output MM of around 5mV minimum 4mV should help and seems the path of least resistance if you're happy with your stages and should give a useful upgrade in SQ over the basic carbon if you spend a little more.
 
Most line level sources, CD players etc, put out a signal which is broadly similar in level. Turntables really, really don't! The variation in output of cartridges is wide and is literally amplified enormously by the phono stage. You need to be really lucky to end up with a similar setting on the volume knob for vinyl a line sources.

Honestly, this is a non-issue. It's what the volume knob is for! It's only a problem if you decide it is.
 
As has already been pointed out it is a 'non-issue'. The so called and misleading term 'volume control' is the culprit because it is not! This control is actually an attenuator that reduces the input to the amplification stages i.e. it 'cuts' the input down to a suitable level.

If you have enough volume for your needs then it really is a 'non-issue'. If you can't get enough volume that is when to look at fitting a different cartridge.

DV
 
My MC puts out 0.5mV , certainly not high output.
Luckily my phono stage has 4 levels of gain, 50/56/60/66dB
I started off at max , and I'm actully dialling it back, as I felt more gain, more noise.
I'm settled at 56dB now, and use the volume control on the amp !
 
Darth Vader said:
As has already been pointed out it is a 'non-issue'. The so called and misleading term 'volume control' is the culprit because it is not! This control is actually an attenuator that reduces the input to the amplification stages i.e. it 'cuts' the input down to a suitable level.

If you have enough volume for your needs then it really is a 'non-issue'. If you can't get enough volume that is when to look at fitting a different cartridge.
Click to expand...

I'm afraid I don't agree with you, DV.

Sure, there is no issue in turning the volume control knob round with a ss preamp - but there is with a tube preamp. (Due to the inherent noise floor of a tube preamp, compared to ss.)

And I suggest you are being absurdly pedantic in calling out a difference between a "volume control" and an "attenuator".

It's all about the matching of the gain of one's phono stage with the output of one's cart:
* a 40dB (100x) phono stage matched with a 5mV cart output is fine (it's the default!).
* but, say, a 36.5dB (67x) phono stage matched with a 4dB cart output is a bit "light on". Better a 42dB phono stage (125x) with such a cart.
 
Pure_Carbon said:
My MC puts out 0.5mV , certainly not high output.
Click to expand...
Depends; if at the American standard measurement (3.545 cms/sec ?) it's very high indeed and even at the European measurement of output (5 cms/sec) , most l.o. MCs are below this. To my rather dated knowledge, on Lyra (was 0.5; now 0.55), lower Koetsus (0.6 approx) and I think, an old VdH at 0.7 mV were above. 0.5 mV is, regardless, a healthy output.
 
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