Phono Stage with Two Line-outs

The Quasar has been on my radar for some time now, however the two outputs are a low and a high output. The MM input provides 50 dB of gain, which should work well with my Denon DL-160 @ ~ 2 mv, but the low output is listed in the specs at 220mv, and the high output at 775 mv. I'm not sure whether I could use the Quasar the way I have in mind.

I see that the Ray Samuels XR-10B has two outputs, but $4500 is a little much for me! Thanks guys.

The 50 dB figure presumably applies to the 775 mv output, which means that the gain to the 220 mv output would be 39 dB.  That may be reasonable for use with a 2 mv cartridge, depending on the sensitivity and noise performance of the Tascam recorder.  (I suspect you would want to use the 775 mv output for the main signal path, given the relatively low 6 dB gain of your preamp, unless your power amp is particularly sensitive).

What specific model is the Tascam recorder?

Regards,
-- Al 

P.S:  I see that the 775 mv output is spec’d as having a very low 22 ohm output impedance.  Which suggests that use of a splitter at that output, and using that output to drive both the recorder and the preamp, would stand an excellent chance of providing fine results, if the 39 dB gain of the other output proves to be inadequate for the recorder.

My belief has long been that the bad rap splitters and y-adapters often get is in most cases not due to the splitters or y-adapters themselves, but is most often the result of the component supplying the signal being unable to drive both destination components and/or both sets of cables with good results, and perhaps in some cases the result of ground loop issues involving the three interconnected components.

Regards,
-- Al

The Tascam is a CD-RW5000, which is getting a little long-in-the-tooth, but still works quite well. I use it to make CD's for the car and I'm not too picky about ultimate fidelity, so will probably continue to use it 'til it quits. When recording from a CD I, of course, do that directly via coax.

I had thought of using splitters, but I'm never sure when it's OK to do so. That would be worth a shot now that I know I won't blow anything up! I noticed that the Jolidas also have a high and low output.

Well, that gives me a bit more to work with. Thanks Al.  

I found the manual for the recorder here.  As you can see on page 23, the unbalanced analog input is spec’d based on a nominal input level of -10 dbV, which is about 316 mv, that in turn allowing 16 db of headroom relative to the 2 volt clipping level of that input.

The 39 db gain of the Quasar’s low level output will boost the 1.6 mv nominal output of your cartridge (under the standard test conditions) to 143 mv.  Particularly loud transients on some recordings may of course exceed the standard test conditions significantly.

143 mv is about 7 db less than the 316 mv the recorder is nominally spec’d to work with.  The manual for the recorder indicates that when the input level control is at the 2 o’clock position the signal level is neither boosted nor cut, so I would expect that you could raise the position of the control enough to provide 7 db of additional gain.  I have no way of being certain, though, as to whether the recorder’s noise performance would still be good at that higher setting, although 7 db of additional gain doesn’t seem like a great deal.

So I think that there is a reasonably good chance that approach would work out.  But if it doesn’t, using a splitter on the Quasar's high level output, such as this one, should work well in this particular case.

As I said initially, though, I have no knowledge of the Quasar’s sonics.    

Good luck, however you decide to proceed.  Regards,
-- Al