How to hook up old Pioneer tt to my system?
Hi all,
I have a Pioneer PL-L800 tt (ca. early 1980's) that I'd like to hook up to my stereo system. I have a Harmon Kardon AVR 130 receiver and Definitive bipolar tower speakers. The tt works fine, but volume is very low. I assume the elderly tt doesn't put out as much power as it needs to for my current system. Is there a way to work around this so I can hear my records at a normal level?! :o Would appreciate any feedback!!
Here's a preamp to consider...
That PS Audio looks fantastic for the price. If you're not looking to spend that much, this preamp is a steal. http://www.audioreplay.net/tc750pp.html I've owned this one. Low noise and has an RIAA accuracy of + - .5 db which equals many of the more expensive "budget audiophile" preamps. I later upgraded and sold it, but sometimes wish I had it around to try with my latest setup. Sounded very nice and actually had a little more gain than the phono stage I use now. This same unit is sold under a couple other brand names (Rek-O-Kut and Esoteric Sound) for around $80.00 shipped, so this is a great deal.
Would probably stay away from the $29.00 variety of phono stages. Usually won't even give you the RIAA specs. (The RIAA curve is an EQ curve that records are recorded with and needs to be corrected by the phono preamp) Noise specs usually don't look too good either (in the 50-60 something db range) higher is better.