Being I have an HK AVR and I am an old f#*% with a large collection of vinyl, I was considering purchasing a phono preamp. I also read somewhere that there are some power amps that can be used for this purpose. Please advise one of the uninitiated old guys.

littleb,

This reasonably priced Project phono preamp at AcousticSounds.com should do the job just fine. Of course, you can pay thousands for tweaky high-end phono preamps and if you do so, you'll certainly "hear" the difference.

http://store.acousticsounds.com/browse_detail.cfm?Title_ID=13112&section=equipment

The little Project even gets the imprimatur of vinyl fanatic Michael Fremer of Stereophile magazine.

Regards,

Curious, but what if you tried to plug in a record player into another set of red/white jacks, for some other source (i.e. aux. or other)? Would the sound be heard? I.E. without a preamp, and an HK AVR, if you plug the record player into another set of RCA 'ins' will it play through the speakers?

You can find them even less expensive at Phonopreamps.com.

I have the TCC TC-750. Works fine.

The output level of a phono cartridge is much lower than "standard line level". A phono preamp is sometimes more accurately referred to as a pre-preamp.

There are also RIAA EQ curves applied in phono stages.

In short: You would hear something if you really cranked the volume, but it wouldn't be very good!

^^ Gotcha. I got it now.

And Ajax, thanks for the link. I might just have to invest in one of those little boxes...if I decide to hook the record player up to everything. I have tons of LP's that I wouldn't mind recording to CD...

De nada!

Here's an on-line auction with many more inexpensive options:

phono pre-amp auction

This site might be better if you know exactly what you want... Good luck!

Thank you everyone for the info. I would have never found that on my own. I picked up a cheapo Philmore Pre-600 from a local shop. It works ok, but I can hear a pronounced, annoying hum in my speakers. It is kind of annoying. Now I remember why CDs were such a big deal.

Sorry to hear about the hum... I know exactly what you're talking about. I got a cheapo Radio Shack pre-amp, and it hums, too, until I got the ground wire hooked up correctly between the turntable, pre-amp, and the computer card, or amplifier.

Another thing you could try if the power supply is built into the pre-amp you're using, AND if the power cord's plug is not polarized (one blade wider than the other) try pulling the plug out and turning it 180 deg. then plugging it in again. This sometimes helps, since the hum comes from a mis-match somewhere in the power / neutral / ground wiring.

Have fun with it. Hope you get it worked out.

I just pulled the 30 year old Technics sl23 out of storage and replaced the belt. Man, I forgot what I had there. Tommy James never sounded so good. Of course I've never used this turntable when I had Axiom speakers. WOW! Who needs CDs anyway????

littleb,

Philmore?? Good heavens, is that still around? That was the brand name of a crystal set I built when I was five years old. No wonder it has hum!

Seriously, it's likely a ground loop. Try reversing the AC plug on the Philmore power supply, or connect a single ground wire from the turntable chassis to the Philmore chassis or the AV receiver chassis.

I was really just kidding about the CD thing. Basically, the only reason I'm still hanging on to the vinyl is that I have a friend who is a collector and as a favor he will give me an album here or there. It just seems a shame to not at least give them a listen.