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Vinyl Asylum Welcome Licorice Pizza (LP) lovers! Setup guides and Vinyl FAQ. |
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Vinyl Asylum Welcome Licorice Pizza (LP) lovers! Setup guides and Vinyl FAQ. |
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In Reply to: Jonathan Carr, Have you heard of this "Solo" pre-preamp? posted by John Chleapas on November 25, 2002 at 17:13:17:
John: Like the HA-500, the Solo appears to be designed to just boost the cartridge signal (by 17dB), so unless you want to listen to your LPs with anaemic-sounding bass and sizzling treble, you will need a separate RIAA equalization stage. And since the signal output voltage of the Parnassus DCt is 0.22mV or so, I am guessing that your headamp (or transformer) in combination with your RIAA equalizer amp will need to produce a combined voltage gain of at least 60dB, preferably more. If your cartridge produces 0.5~0.7mV, perhaps a 17dB headamp is OK, but for a cartridge that produces less than 0.3mV, I think you want more gain from the pre-preamp/headamp/transformer.Let me offer some general advice. High-resolution, low-output cartridges have the _potential_ to sound better if they are used properly, but if they are used improperly, what they will do most of the time is bite you. It's like changing your car's flywheel from a normal one to a low-mass hand-balanced special. If you are a good driver, the drivetrain will feel much quicker and more responsive. But if you don't have a sensitive touch with the clutch and throttle, you'll mostly get lots of engine stalls.
Before you go any further, I think you should decide if you want to be serious about your analog hobby, and if you want to pursue the performance potential of high-resolution low-output cartridges. If the answer is yes, invest in a high-quality phono stage with plenty of gain and a good signal-noise ratio. If you are willing to make this committment, in the future, in addition to the Lyra cartridges, you can also think about manufacturers like Transfiguration or ZYX.
But it is also perfectly fine if you decide that you just want something nice to listen to, that doesn't require meticulous setup and top-notch partnering equipment. If so, you should probably stay with medium-output cartridges that have at least 0.4mV output, and are reasonably revealing, but not fiendishly so. My cartridge upgrade suggestions would include the Shelter 501 II, quite a few of the Benz-Micro's, maybe the Ortofon Kontrapunkt A.
As it is now, I think that you have a reasonable turntable (although it is probably close to the lower limit of what you should use with the Parnassus DCt), and if you get the WallyTools and are willing to work on your setup techniques, you should be able to set up the cartridge ok. But the phono amplification and equalization part is really unclear. Decide what cartridge direction you want to go in the future, and get an appropriate phono stage (or combination of components). And if the Parnassus DCt becomes the odd man out, feel free to sell it again and get another cartridge that is closer to what you need.
hth, jonathan carr
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Follow Ups
- Re: Jonathan Carr, Have you heard of this "Solo" pre-preamp? - jcarr 10:02:44 11/26/02 (0)
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