Tube preamp or built in ?

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Taggart666

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Tube preamp or built in ?
« on: 10 Dec 2023, 10:50 pm »
I'm fairly new to delving in to such things but want to upgrade, I have a set of b&w 602 speakers, powered by a denon ceol sound system along with a dp400 denon record player, I have just upgraded the stylus to a "ortofon 2M blue"
The dp400 has a built in preamp and sounds great but I was wondering could I get that bit more if I added a tube preamp in and turn the preamp off? I've been YouTube ing and looking on the Internet but can't seem to get an answer, any thoughts on this would be much appreciated , thanks guys

FullRangeMan

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Re: Tube preamp or built in ?
« Reply #1 on: 10 Dec 2023, 11:36 pm »
I will move this topic tô the Vinyl Circle for better response.

Letitroll98

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Re: Tube preamp or built in ?
« Reply #2 on: 11 Dec 2023, 01:11 pm »
I think any decent outboard phone pre, either tube or solid state, will easily outperform any of the ultra cheap built in phono pre's that are used in these turntables.

twitch54

Re: Tube preamp or built in ?
« Reply #3 on: 11 Dec 2023, 03:16 pm »
While I agree with Letitroll with regards to phono - pre's, I'm more inclined to look at the obvious weak link in your system. IMO, it's your speakers. Do you augment them with a sub ? But perhaps your listening environment doesn't allow for bigger speakers ?

Back to outboard phono-pre's, For not a lot of $$ and still providing good flexibility the Schiit Mani is a very nice unit, My brother in-law utilizes one.

https://www.schiit.com/products/mani

Taggart666

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Re: Tube preamp or built in ?
« Reply #4 on: 18 Dec 2023, 04:00 pm »
Thank you both for the info, I'm going to have a look into the schist mani, I don't really want to change the speakers as I really do like them too much, also would be down another rabbit whole of looking for good speakers 🤣

Denton J

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Re: Tube preamp or built in ?
« Reply #5 on: 14 Jul 2024, 06:32 pm »
Bringing this topic back from the depths.  My turntable doesn’t have a built in phono stage.   

I have an integrated amp which has a built in phono stage and I recently purchased a built kit. I will probably keep shopping around until I find something that keeps the vinyl sound but is a little more resolving than the my integrated built in phono stage.  Also, I have a tube amp on the way so I will remove the integrated from the pathway.

theflattire

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Re: Tube preamp or built in ?
« Reply #6 on: 15 Jul 2024, 05:45 pm »
Darlington Labs FTW

Denton J

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Re: Tube preamp or built in ?
« Reply #7 on: 27 Jul 2024, 02:11 am »
I played with the settings and the Don Sach’s phono stage kit sounds great.  The wife purchased me an old Jimi Hendrix album she randomly found.  It sounds like jimi’s band were playing live in my office.  There is something magical about vinyl I’ve always really liked.

nlitworld

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Re: Tube preamp or built in ?
« Reply #8 on: 27 Jul 2024, 03:02 am »
I played with the settings and the Don Sach’s phono stage kit sounds great.  The wife purchased me an old Jimi Hendrix album she randomly found.  It sounds like jimi’s band were playing live in my office.  There is something magical about vinyl I’ve always really liked.

I had a feeling your phono stage just needed some settings adjusted. Glad to hear things are sounding better.  :thumb: