Need to turn volume all the way up with cartridge

60db of gain should be fine for the Skala but you should play with the loading if you can try between 100 and like 470 if possible.

Pdxhdhunter .25mV is pretty low you need at least 66db of gain as John said....

Calbrs03, I have a BAT VK300x integrated with the phono card. They told me that the card was factory set at 47K. The card has a switch for MM/MC on it. The gain was 45/60. I'm tring to use a Lyra Skala cartridge. They say the impedance can be between 100/47k ohms. That doesn't make sense to me. I wonder if it's possible that I have the gain switch on the card in wrong position? Would I get sound at all at 45 db's of gain? I'll check out your suggestions.

Gain sounds okay, Zenieth, but loading seems off. Did the manufacturer of the cartridge suggest 47k? Try the the KAB website. They have lots of helpful advice and a preamp calculator. Plug in some numbers. The Cartridge Database is a good info source, too. Good luck.

I know whatever John said is (practically) bible when it comes to vinyl.

Contact John at bentaudio and discuss your situation (he makes a very, and I mean very good SUT) for under $1K I believe.

My appolagies for breaking into this thread. I have the same problem! A phono stage with gain of 60 and a cartridge with 0.5 output. My stage is loaded at 47k which I assumed was for MM cartridges. What do I need in the way of a transformer to correct this. I read Jmcgrogan2's thread but it's a bit over my head. Suggestions please ....

What John says. You can also stick with your present phono stage and get a cartridge with a higher output, say, one with 2.5 mV.

It sounds like you need more gain. That doesn't necessarily mean a 'better' phono stage, just as amplifiers with more power don't necessarily sound better than lower powered amps.

You either need a phono stage with more gain, or you can use the same phono stage and add a Step Up Transformer. Either way, your cartridge will play louder.

My cartridge has a 0.24 mV output, and my phono stage has 66 db of gain, how much gain does your phono stage have? I'll assume you meant that your cartridge has a 0.25 mV output.

Cheers,
John

Do you mean .25 mV or 2.5 mV? 25 mV and you wouldn't have this problem.