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Problem with phono stage

Hello Fellow Audiogoners,

I need help with my Phono stage. It is Lehman Audio Black Cube from Germany.  It was recommended from Simao, a very respected Audiogon member who helped me a lot when I was building my stereo. It costs 450$ brand new which I bought used from this site. Michael Fremer considers it one of the best steals in phono stages. I get a little bit better detail and bass extension BUT it also much noisier. I can hear the pops and any other noises  on the records much more then with the phono stage of my Arcam FMJ 28 which turned out to be a surprisingly good one considering it is an integrated one.
I also switched the cables but the noise is still there.
Is this a common problem with added phono stages as opposed to integrated ones or something is wrong with my phono and needs to be checked.

All help will be greatly appreciated.
Emil


emilm
ejb14
37 posts
 
Doesn’t the black cube have multiple gain settings? The overload margin on it for a MM cart is much higher than 5mv.. something like 45mv. I suspect you have the gain setting too high on the cube...set it to 36 or 46db and see how that works..

Hope this helps.

emilm OP
18 posts
 
Ncdogdoc, thanks for clarifying that.
Ejb14, lewm and jjss, I will check the dip switch setting and let you know.

Thank you all for the input. 

cakyol's avatar
cakyol
940 posts
 
I hope you are not connecting your MP110 to the MC gain settings....
It is an MM cartridge and should be connected to the MM setting.
Try reducing the gain one step at a time.
geof3
1,124 posts
 
The Black Cube is a single input with variations on the dip switches that are gain oriented. There really is only one setting for an MM cart overall. The capacitance can be tweaked, but internally. It is probable, if that noisy, the capacitance stock installed in the Cube doesn’t play very well with your cart. The nice thing about stepping up to the Decade is the ability to dial in the capacitance of an MM cart along with several gain options. It can make all the difference. You can also shoot Lehmann a note. Norbert is usually very responsive and very helpful.
emilm OP
18 posts
 
ejb14 gain is set up at 41db and there is only one setting for MM.

geof3, thanks for the information
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