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Phono preamp question

I'm slowly trying to upgrade my vinyl system to something that could be considered moderately decent, not necessarily high end. I have an older full feature preamp and am thinking in getting a separate phono preamp. I'm assuming the phono preamp would need to be connected to one of the line inputs. Would my preamp be the weak link if I get a good phono preamp to use with my existing preamp? Can a phono preamp be connected directly to the amplifier? FWIW, the preamp is an Adcom GTP-750. Thanks.
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Showing 9 responses by kalali

kalali's avatar
kalali OP
1,977 posts
 
dekay, by the way, I have no doubt my current preamp has a much better phono stage than that $40 piece of crap you recommended. But thanks for taking the time.
kalali's avatar
kalali OP
1,977 posts
 
The idea of a passive preamp to put in between the phono stage and the amplifier makes logical sense (to me) since it appears that regardless of the quality of the phono stage the linestage is potentially always the limiting factor. So I guess the folks who spring for a very high end phono preamp must already own an equally high quality linestage pre. With that premise in mind, I think I'm better off to stick with what I have until I'm ready to upgrade my preamp.
kalali's avatar
kalali OP
1,977 posts
 

I have a NAD preamp in my other system which appears to have a more sophisticated phono stage which I have never tried. That might be good enough for this system and it would give me the excuse I need to finally get a tube line stage for my most frequency used system(s). Win win, I guess.

kalali's avatar
kalali OP
1,977 posts
 
The turntable I just bought is a Technics SL-3300 with an Audio Technica AT95E cartridge. Its basically new/unused and yes, I paid $200 and yes I think it sounds quite decent given what I paid. That been said, my original question was generic and just about using a separate phono preamp and trying to learn about options to make my old, LP playback only system (Adcom GFP 750, Adcom GFA 555, JBL L40) sound better. Thanks to those of you who made suggestions for reasonably priced phono preamps.
kalali's avatar
kalali OP
1,977 posts
 
Sorry, a correction its a GFP-565. I don't know why I was thinking 750.
kalali's avatar
kalali OP
1,977 posts
 
dlcockrum, thanks for the recommendation. I’ll look into cartridges as well.

DeKay, sorry about the confusion. I made a mistake with the model number. One thing I should add for full disclosure is I bought the Technics mostly out of curiosity and based on what a lot of folks had said about the quality of their direct drive tables. And this one happened to be so close to me. As for the budget, I’m thinking something around $400-$500 used should be better than what I have in my 565.
My original concern is/was to spend the money on the phono stage and only get incremental improvement due to the quality limitations imposed by putting the 565 downstream from it.
kalali's avatar
kalali OP
1,977 posts
 

Thank you all for the tips and recommendations. Even though I very rarely use this system, I'm having hell of a time to let go of it. These gears have been with me most of my adult life; the L40s since 1978. 

As a start, I'll follow dekay's great tips and look into a suitable replacement cartridge. If I find myself listening to LPs more and more, I'll consider an upgrade path for the rest of the gear.

Thanks again. 

kalali's avatar
kalali OP
1,977 posts
 

vair68robert, thank you. I've decided to repurpose my budget towards a suitable/better cartridge that I can use with this turntable and move it to better turntable if/when I decide to upgrade the table.

I'll post a separate thread to ask for cartridge recommendations after I've had the opportunity to do some background research.

kalali's avatar
kalali OP
1,977 posts
 
Thank you folks for all the input. One of the reasons I really stretched my budget to get the 565 back then was all the great reviews for its phone stage since I only listened to LPs at the time. Last week a buddy of mine brought over his Vincent PHO-701 preamp he had just bought and the thing looks real beautiful with the tube lit up, etc. I must confess the overall sound was a little warmer. Not sure how to explain but the pops and general LP surface noise was less noticeable/annoying. I initially thought it had less detail but after a few records it seemed all the detail was there but just more fluid. I’m thinking the age is taking some toll on the 565 and some electronic TLC could revive the unit. I just ordered a tube preamp that has a phono stage for my other system and expect it any day so I can try it with the turntable and see how it goes. Might consider a separate tube phono stage since they seem to have a different sound texture.
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