Want to start a vinyl rig, overwhelmed by information

[Catcher]

According to the buyers guide of the 111 integrated or pre amps sold in the UK only 30 have a phono stage fitted.
I stand corrected on this because even though thats only about a quarter I didn't even know that many had phono stages fitted.

 

[NightOwl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catcher /img/forum/go_quote.gif According to the buyers guide of the 111 integrated or pre amps sold in the UK only 30 have a phono stage fitted. I stand corrected on this because even though thats only about a quarter I didn't even know that many had phono stages fitted.

I would hazard a guess that the majority of the remaining 81 have no phono input at all and no provision to add one. Analogue use is still not that widespread and a lot of amps are manufactured without thought to vinyl reproduction.
I still agree with videocrew that if the amp says that it has a phono input, it more than likely has a phono stage installed. Of course it wouldn't hurt to check the amp's manual.

As an aside, always liked the Exposures. Very nice.

 

[DBrim]

Okay, everything's in, but I have a few questions.

1. The edge of my record is super wobbly. Did I not put it together right?
2. The cartridge was not hitting the record, period. Even with the wobble. It was hitting a c-shaped lever, so I tried moving it around, and now I think it's pressing too hard? I think I may have just changed my tracking pressure or something, so how do I fix it?
3. There is a buzz somewhere in my system. I don't think it is the amp. How do I diagnose and fix that?

 

[Suntory_Times]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DBrim /img/forum/go_quote.gif Okay, everything's in, but I have a few questions. 1. The edge of my record is super wobbly. Did I not put it together right? 2. The cartridge was not hitting the record, period. Even with the wobble. It was hitting a c-shaped lever, so I tried moving it around, and now I think it's pressing too hard? I think I may have just changed my tracking pressure or something, so how do I fix it? 3. There is a buzz somewhere in my system. I don't think it is the amp. How do I diagnose and fix that?

For three I would venture to say it is a grounding issue.

 

[DBrim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suntory_Times /img/forum/go_quote.gif For three I would venture to say it is a grounding issue.

There is a grounding lug on the back of the fono, but I didn't get anything anywhere to do anything with it. I did buy it used, maybe I'm missing a cable?

 

[DBrim]

Just talked to the dealer I bought the turntable from. Everything's (more or less) resolved now.

1. Normal
2. The C-shaped bracket is used to queue the needle. It's supposed to raise up and down
3. The phono stage is picking up RF from somewhere. Not sure what I can do about that. It's pretty hidden when music is going, especially since my amp has to be at 8 o'clock otherwise the setup is too loud.

 

[NightOwl]

I'm assuming you have the Rega 3 in your sig.
If your record is wobbly it's one of 3 things.
A. Your platter is not installed correctly and is not level. Take the record off and see if the platter spins evenly. Get a small torpedo or bubble level. Put it on the 4 corners of the plinth (turntable base) and on three separate points at the edge of the platter and level the table.
B. The record is not pushed down on all the way on the spindle to be flush to the platter. Some records have the center hole a bit small and are a tight fit.
C. Your record is warped. Nothing you can do about this.


On your second point. Did you balance the arm and set the tracking force?
Also if your arm is hitting a c-shaped lever, then it sounds like you haven't lowered the arm lift. There's a lever attached to the side of a cylinder that the c-shaped lever (the arm lift) comes out of. You have to lower this to drop the arm on the record.

On your third point it could be a couple of things. Did your cartridge come pre-installed? If your phono preamp has a MM (moving magnet) and MC (moving coil) setting, do you have it set on MM?
Is the buzzing loud or faint. If it's faint it could be the Rega arm. The arm is internally grounded without provision for external grounding to your amp. Verify everything else and then you can get to that.

 

[DBrim]

Next question:

Right now, in my setup, the volume is really really really high. My amp is living at 7:30 or so, which is barely above the lowest level. Is there any way, aside from higher impedance headphones, to reduce the volume level of the system?

 

[NightOwl]

Not with the set up you have right now. All Rega cartridges are very high output. The Elys is 7.2 mv. The average cartridge is probably 4.5 - 5.0 mv.

All I can think of are:
1. Add an impedance adapter to your headphones.
2. Replace your phono cartridge with one with lower output like a Denon DL 160 (2.0 mv)
3. Replace your phono preamp with one with lower or adjustable gain.
4. Replace your headamp with one with lower or adjustable gain.
5. Replace your headphones.
6. Get someone who knows what they're doing to reduce the gain in your headamp.
7. Buy an attenuator to go between phono pre and headamp (I have no recommendation for a specific model).