Try the phono preamp gain calculator at www.kabusa.com
In my experience it's pretty much dead on.
In my experience it's pretty much dead on.
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- 6 posts total
Is the Grado Gold one of the MM level output cartridges (e.g. 4 to 5 mv)? If so, you'll have more than enough gain. I owned one of the Mk I versions of this preamp. It had in the region of 62dB gain (phono plus line stage), and I don't think they changed this in subsequent upgrades, but it's best to check. Using this 62dB gain as an assumption, it would predict (all things being equal), that it would be fine for down to a medium output MC cartridge (i.e. 1.0 mv). Now, in speaking about phono/line stage gain, you need to put this into the context of the gain structure of your entire system. You can't restrict your analysis to your phono and line stage. Additionally, you can get by with a theoretically unfavorable gain relationship if your system has ultra quiet components along with a power amplifier that has lots of headroom with respect to driving your speakers. Think of your system gain structure as an ecosystem with all components interacting. I ran my SP-9 Mk I with a low output MC cartridge (.3mv), as all of the components in the signal path were quiet, and my power amp at the time had a lot of grunt to drive my speakers. I have a thread on my forum that covers on these issues. If you're interested in reading it, it's over here (complete with some sample system gain calculations): http://www.galibierdesign.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=35 Cheers, Thom |
- 6 posts total