Any recommendations for a pre-amp/preamp

[waxcylinder]

Arghhhh ..... my trusty old Technics amp/pre-amp (my wife's amp actually) is dying ..... the light s are out, but it still passes power throgh to the FM tuner and the tuner signal can be sent on to soundcard/Audacity - so I can still record FM radio. BUT I can't switch the device to phono - so no more vinyl recordings for now, and I've still got a way to go

It looks like I might have to buy a phono preamp to sit between my turntable and my Edirol UA-1EX USB soundcard.

Does anybody have any good recommendations for a preamp?

I think that some devices are made for folks who need to connect TTs to new amps that don't have phono inputs - reasonably small and cheap- Obviously I don't want a USB preamp as I am using the external USB soundcard - so I need RAC to input to thr soundcard. The TT presents RCA outputs. The preamp obviously need to do the RIAA equalisation.

Any suggestions greatfully received. many thanks,

WC

[stevethefiddle]

My best results have been with a 20 year old Sony STR-6046 integrated amplifier - I have two of them, the switches are very crackly and the lights don't work, but there's a direct out from the pre-amp that works great. I've also got a little plastic phono pre-amp which cost about $20 some years ago - it's not quite as good as the Sony, but it's good enough for most stuff and it's a lot more convenient. Unfortunately it's "Unbranded", so I can't tell you a lot more about it.

[waxcylinder]

Hi Steve, thanks for the quick reply. Our old Technics SU-X902 is an integrated jobbie also with a direct output from the pre-amp, like your Sony. And up till now it has worked extremely well delivering good results.

When it gets properly light again tomorro, I'll open it up to see if there's anything obviously amiss.

WC

[waxcylinder]

Hooray, hooray,

After having powered the unit down last night and unplagged it from the mains and left it for 12 hours - I plugged it in again this morning, pressed the power switch and lo and behold: on come all the fairy lights and switching facility is fully restored.

I did try "re-boot" yesterday (more than once) turning off/unplugging for more than one minute - I can only assume that the device has some big capacitors for charge retention, or possibly it went into some temporary shutdown mode (overheating?).

But anyway we're back to full operation today, thank goodness. - so no $$/££ wil have to change hands for now.

WC

[alatham]

A good amp will indeed shut itself down if it gets overheated. Perhaps you had something covering the vents?

To answer the original question, I use this one.

But I admit to having never tested any others. You can go to Amazon and do a search for "phono pre-amp" they've got plenty of them.

[waxcylinder]

A good amp will indeed shut itself down if it gets overheated. Perhaps you had something covering the vents?

It's certainly possible Andy - my cats have a penchant for laying on top of the amp (they've sussed that it's nice and warm) - and the Maine Coon boy is very large and fairly hairy. Keeping them off my PC k/b is a nightmare too - they are even worse typists than me!

Thanks for posting what you use - a useful insight.

WC

[waxcylinder]

Arghhhh ..... my trusty old Technics amp/pre-amp (my wife's amp actually) is dying ..... the lights are out, but it still passes power through to the FM tuner and the tuner signal can be sent on to soundcard/Audacity - so I can still record FM radio. BUT I can't switch the device to phono - so no more vinyl recordings for now, and I've still got a way to go

It looks like I might have to buy a phono preamp to sit between my turntable and my Edirol UA-1EX USB soundcard.

WC

UPDATE: it's looking like a dry joint is the problem with the amp.

Use of what is known in the UK as a "Birmingham screwdriver" i.e. a sharp tap with a big hammer - usually brings it back to full life again.

The hard part now will be to try to find the location of the dry joint - these are always tricky to find .......

WC

[stevethefiddle]

Inexpensive phono pre-amps can produce surprisingly good results, and if using a budget turntable and cartridge it is probably not worth spending a lot more. High quality cheap IC's are available specifically for phono pre-amps, and make circuit design of reasonable quality quite a trivial matter. However, with a high quality deck, it is probably worth getting something that is "branded" by an audio equipment manufacturer who have a reputation to protect.

The other major advantage of a genuine "hi-fi" pr-amp, is that it will usually be switchable to suit either MM or MC cartridges so that you can get the best out of whichever type you have.

[waxcylinder]

Inexpensive phono pre-amps can produce surprisingly good results, and if using a budget turntable and cartridge it is probably not worth spending a lot more. High quality cheap IC's are available specifically for phono pre-amps, and make circuit design of reasonable quality quite a trivial matter. However, with a high quality deck, it is probably worth getting something that is "branded" by an audio equipment manufacturer who have a reputation to protect.

The other major advantage of a genuine "hi-fi" pr-amp, is that it will usually be switchable to suit either MM or MC cartridges so that you can get the best out of whichever type you have.

Looks like I might have to go this route Steve, as the Birrmingham screwdriver didn't work today, alas, not even with a big thump. The good news is that experimentation shows that the separate FM tuner sends a strong enough signal on its own without the benefit of the pre-amp (and possibly it will actually a better signal with less circuitry in the way). And this will enable me to capture good quality off-air FM signals from the BBC long after I have completed the vinyl digitization.

But it looks like I will need a phono pre-amp - so it's a trip down to the hi-fi shop in the local town (and I count myself extremely lucky to still have a real hi-fi shop in a small town).

Thanks for the feeedback,

WC

[stevethefiddle]

If you've not been and bought one yet, it could be worth giving a NAD PP2 a trial - someone was telling me last night that they had one and liked it. (not tried it myself though)