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  1. #1
    glw
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    Phono Preamp issue

    I HAD an older receiver that had my old Technics SL-D2 turntable connected to it (had the phono in jacks and all)

    With one of the amps in the receiver acting flaky, I bought a new Pioneer 5.1 home theater receiver. I was planning on connecting the turntable to one of the CD in jacks.

    So...bought a preamp. connected it up. put an LP on...could hear it from the arm...but not from the speakers.

    So, I took the preamp and turntable off, connected it to the older receiver, got lucky - both of the amps were working so I could hear the record out of both speakers. I then connected the turntable to the preamp and connected the preamp to the older receiver's tape in jacks. set it up for that deck, put the record on, no problem, the receiver put it on through.

    Connected the DVD player to the CD player jacks on the new Pioneer. Put in a CD and played it. Again, no problem.

    So, is it just that I may not have a preamp with enough power to drive the voltage for the new receiver...bet enough to get it to the level for the old one's tape player...

    Or is there something I am missing? I am new to this but not new to troubleshooting.

  2. #2
    _ Luvin Da Blues's Avatar
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    Do you have a Moving Magnet Cartridge and using it with a Moving Coil Phono Preamp? Check if the is a switch on the phono pre to change from MM to MC.
    Back in my day, we had nine planets.

  3. #3
    glw
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    The preamp has no switch. It also has no gain adjust..which is not a good thing...and the new receiver doesn't have an explicit chassis ground. (The preamp was the only one I could find in the area...next stop would be ordering online...)

    So, I may have the wrong flavor of preamp?

    With an older Technics SL-D2 turntable, is there an inexpensive or not too expensive preamp around that would work?

    It just seems strange to me that it would work on the older receiver...no preamp with input at the phono jacks and then with the preamp input at the tape and aux jacks (which I was assuming were NOT equipped with a preamp built in)

  4. #4
    _ Luvin Da Blues's Avatar
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    If you give me the brand and model of the phono preamp and cartridge, I'll check it out.

    Cheers,

    LDB
    Back in my day, we had nine planets.

  5. #5
    Retro Modernist 02audionoob's Avatar
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    I'd also be interested in which model Pioneer your have. In looking at the owner's manuals on the Pioneer website, I'm seeing some models that vary quite a bit in input sensitivity. Needledoctor.com has some economical phono preamps. Goldring makes some MM cartridges with fairly high output..they're high even for MM. If there's an input labeled for VCR, you might want to try it, just to see if it's at all different.

  6. #6
    glw
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    The Pioneer unit is an inexpensive one. In doing some home remodeling, I sunk the money into the build out and the flat screen TV...expecting the old receiver to be OK...but with Hurricane Ike...well, I am lucky that it merely made one of the channels in the receiver flaky and go in and out.

    So, the Pioneer unit is low end...but OK for the size of room : Pioneer VSX-518K 5.1
    The turntable is a Technics Sl-D2 circa 1986 - don't know the cartridge on it as it is the original one. At the time it was bought, it was medium to high end for the ones that fit Technics. The turntable was stable and no-frills...but I put my money into the cartridge then.

    The preamp is L.K.G. Industries Solid State Stereo Phono Pre Amplifier PRE600. There are virtually no real audio stores in Houston any longer. You either end up at Fry's, Best Buy, Conn's, or online. Bad when you consider the size of the city. It is even worse for photography and video equipment.

    So...

    LKG PRE600 preamp
    Pioneer VSX-518K 5.1 receiver
    Technics SL-D2 turntable
    unknown cartridge....

  7. #7
    glw
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    looking at needledoctor, the cartridge is, if memory serves, and Audio-Technica. It is amazing how much cheaper the cartridges are now that no one uses them than when I bought it originally. Don't know the model number though

  8. #8
    _ Luvin Da Blues's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by glw
    looking at needledoctor, the cartridge is, if memory serves, and Audio-Technica. It is amazing how much cheaper the cartridges are now that no one uses them than when I bought it originally. Don't know the model number though
    I confirmed that your preamp is MM only so that's good. Those AT440MLa are a great bargain for around the $100 mark.

    I'm at work so can't dig into it now but will get back to you.
    Back in my day, we had nine planets.

  9. #9
    Forum Regular Kevio's Avatar
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    Excellent troubleshooting GLW. Normally you would have figured out the problem but instead from what I see you got results that are inconsistent with themselves. Obviously each individual piece is working but just not in certain combinations. When this happens to me, I scratch my head a bit and then I go back and redo the experiments, scratch my head some more and eventually a light bulb goes off. Let us know what you find.

  10. #10
    glw
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    well...I looked over everything..and was amazed that I actually DID recall the cartridge being Audio-Technica correctly.I was about to re-check it all...but then took the RCA audio jacks from the DVD player - that worked in the DVD input...and put them into the CD inputs.

    Guess what - no sound...!!!

    So, I now knew I had either a bad receiver out of the box...or a config issue with the receiver. Then buried deep in the receiver manual, it stated that the preset for the CD, DVD, and aux were Optical, Coax, and Coax. but the setup would detect the DVD....

    So, I was sitting there with a receiver that is looking for an Opt connection for audio... Disabled this one and the preamp worked fin...but WAS a bit on the low side. I then put in an amp I had lying around that had adjustable gain...bingo...

    Setting one port to something that is NOT exactly a standard everywhere...and making one set of ports auto adjust and notall...someone dropped the ball there...

    Of course, it could be that they ARE advertising installation services even at the manufacturers sites...if you hide something on page 83 in the manual...and write it badly with the closest example of what they are talking about on page 10...it is very likely you WILL get people calling for installation help.

    Personally, if it is THAT hard to get it working, it gets boxed up and taken back. I pay installers to do things like pull cables and cut/finish installation holes and trim that is the realm of a craftsman...and not that of a pro-sumer.

  11. #11
    jmc
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    Similar problem. LKG Pre600 for Pioneer VSX

    I am having the same problem connecting a an older record play, Technics SL-BD22, to the Pioneer VSX-D411 receiver. I am using the same LKG Pre600 phono preamp.

    How were you able to disable the Opt connection for the audio?

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