IDM Mailing Archive

It's true. In accordance with the urging of a number of people on here, I hit the yardsales this morning and found a nice looking Technics SL-BD1 turntable for $15. I hooked it up on my stereo and it plays.. but the signal is very faint and tinny. I'm listening to the vinyl of "801 Live" that I bought last night and I have to turn my stereo's volume _way_ up to hear the record. If I had it turned up this loud for a CD/tape/whatever, it would be painfully loud. I can actually _hear_ the little flashing clock in my stereo if that gives you any indication of how high my volume is set. By the looks of that cd vs. vinyl debate, lots of you people are vinyl experts. Anyone have any ideas how to fix this? Once/if I get it working properly, I _promise_ to run to the record store and buy a Gescom record.

On Sat, 9 Aug 1997, Danny Freer wrote:

quoted 4 lines [...] I hooked it up on my stereo and it plays.. but the

> [...] I hooked it up on my stereo and it plays.. but the > signal is very faint and tinny. I'm listening to the vinyl of "801 Live" > that I bought last night and I have to turn my stereo's volume _way_ up to > hear the record. [...]

What input do you have it plugged into on your amplifier? Record players don't put out a normal aux signal, so it has to be hooked to your amp's phono jack. If the amp doesn't have a phono jack, you'll need to get a pre-amp. Get a decent pre-amp, because cheap ones (like I bought at Radio Shack at first) are really noisy. In honour of the discussion I went out and bought a quality needle and had everything calibrated by an expert. It sounds really, really good now. -- Emanuel Borsboom -- Victoria B.C. Canada -- "complete with surface noise" [Home Page] http://zerius.com/manny/ [Java Synth] http://zerius.com/synth/ [Vocoder] http://zerius.com/vocoder/

In message <3.0.32.19970809152913.0070c718@popgw.jmu.edu>, Danny Freer <freerdj@jmu.edu> writes

quoted 2 lines hear the record. If I had it turned up this loud for a CD/tape/whatever,

>hear the record. If I had it turned up this loud for a CD/tape/whatever, >it would be painfully loud. I can actually _hear_ the little flashing

You sure you've plugged it into the right input? Record players need a different amount of amplification than cd players... -- Ben Coffer Hybrid Productions http://www.hybridgame.demon.co.uk/

quoted 10 lines signal is very faint and tinny. I'm listening to the vinyl of "801 Live"

> signal is very faint and tinny. I'm listening to the vinyl of "801 Live" > that I bought last night and I have to turn my stereo's volume _way_ up to > hear the record. If I had it turned up this loud for a CD/tape/whatever, > it would be painfully loud. I can actually _hear_ the little flashing > clock in my stereo if that gives you any indication of how high my volume > is set. By the looks of that cd vs. vinyl debate, lots of you people are > vinyl experts. > > Anyone have any ideas how to fix this? Once/if I get it working properly, > I _promise_ to run to the record store and buy a Gescom record.

Sounds like the problem is that you've got the TT hooked up to an "auxillary" input instead of a "phono" input. Turntables require preamplification in order to have the right level of signal output. If your receiver (which is what I assume you are using if you've got a home stereo) doesn't have the "phono" selection then you must either find one that does or purchase a preamplifier. Also -- it could also be due to break in the RCA cables or something but it sounds like its a preamp prob. -$0.02 /peter

quoted 4 lines turntable for $15. I hooked it up on my stereo and it plays.. but the

> turntable for $15. I hooked it up on my stereo and it plays.. but the > signal is very faint and tinny. I'm listening to the vinyl of "801 Live" > that I bought last night and I have to turn my stereo's volume _way_ up to > hear the record. If I had it turned up this loud for a CD/tape/whatever,

You need to run a turntable through a phono preamp, which amplifies the signal to the appropriate level and applies the RIAA eq curve. Not all amps/receivers have a phono input nowadays, but you can get a phono preamp for about $70. If you've got a phono input and the turntable's plugged into it, then maybe it's a moving-coil vs. moving-magnet issue -- but probably not, all things considered. --Mark

Emanuel is right about the AUX input. BUT, if you ARE using the phono input, you may need to use a different kind of cartridge. There are two types (generally) in the consumer turntables cartridge market: "moving magnet" and a "moving coil." The "moving coil" types often produce lower output levels than the magnet ones. However, from the sound of your symptoms, it seems that you have it hooked up to the wrong input jack. Cya, KevFrey. Emanuel Borsboom wrote:

quoted 22 lines On Sat, 9 Aug 1997, Danny Freer wrote:

> > On Sat, 9 Aug 1997, Danny Freer wrote: > > > [...] I hooked it up on my stereo and it plays.. but the > > signal is very faint and tinny. I'm listening to the vinyl of "801 Live" > > that I bought last night and I have to turn my stereo's volume _way_ up to > > hear the record. [...] > > What input do you have it plugged into on your amplifier? Record players > don't put out a normal aux signal, so it has to be hooked to your amp's > phono jack. If the amp doesn't have a phono jack, you'll need to get a > pre-amp. Get a decent pre-amp, because cheap ones (like I bought at Radio > Shack at first) are really noisy. > > In honour of the discussion I went out and bought a quality needle and had > everything calibrated by an expert. It sounds really, really good now. > > -- > Emanuel Borsboom -- Victoria B.C. Canada -- "complete with surface noise" > [Home Page] http://zerius.com/manny/ > [Java Synth] http://zerius.com/synth/ > [Vocoder] http://zerius.com/vocoder/

-- FreyGuy <Everyday is Freyday> Network/Notes Administrator Hansen Corporation *kevfrey@evansville.net kfrey@hansen-motor.com http://www.evansville.net/~kevfrey/ Rule #8 from the Horror Movie Character's Survival Guide: "As a general rule, don't solve puzzles that open the portals to hell."

At 09:34 PM 8/11/97 -0500, you wrote:

quoted 14 lines You need to run a turntable through a phono preamp, which amplifies the

>>You need to run a turntable through a phono preamp, which amplifies the >>signal to the appropriate level and applies the RIAA eq curve. Not all >>amps/receivers have a phono input nowadays, but you can get a phono preamp >>for about $70. If you've got a phono input and the turntable's plugged >>into it, then maybe it's a moving-coil vs. moving-magnet issue -- but >>probably not, all things considered. >> >>--Mark > >If you guys couldn't tell, Mark knows some real facts. Next question, how >could one make an RIAA eq'ing preamp with less than $15 bucks in >electronics? I've heard there's a site on the web with the full specs for >making one with opamps and capacitors (my design only existed on paper). >

Wow! I'd like to see that site if you ever find it. I'm quite an avid electronics hobbyist and have skipped over numerous schematics for preamps but haven't ever seen an RIAA preamp. I figure it's time to build something in my spare time worth something. Rusty