Which Lyra Helicon?


I'm getting into vinyl in a big way, just purchased extended Aries w/JMW 12.5 tonearm.... now, I need a cartridge and phono pre-amp.

I've pretty much decided on a Lyra Helikon, but unsure about whether to get the .4mv or the super low output one (2.3mv?)

What should I do?

For now, budget says Grado Phono pre-amp.... or? suggestions?

Thanks, in advance.

John
jbatlanta

Showing 1 response by sidssp

I don’t think the SL really requires a phono amp with 80 db gain. I am using a standard Helikon with a Krell KPE which has 64db gain and I normally listen at –10db to –6db (10 db to 6 db below unity gain) volume level on the BAT VK-50SE. That means if I bypassed the preamp it would be 6 to 10 db louder. The difference between a Helikon standard and a SL is about 6db. So a low-noise phono amp with gains in the high 60 to low 70 should be enough in most situations.