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"The owners manual claims in both English and Japanese I.6mV output. But when I tested the cartridge it produced a 2.2mV output. That's the difference between being easy to use, or a tweak cartridge. I've always suspected the output was higher then claimed."
and as long as i'm embarrassing myself asking stupid questions, please allow one more. i was looking at perhaps the pro-ject phonobox se II phono amp. it lists these specs: Input impedance, MM: 120, 220, 340 and 440pf/47kohm Input impedance, MC: 17, 18, 20, 22, 69, 100 and 220ohms/120pF am i supposed to be somehow matching these specs up with the specs on my cartridge? if so, how? or is it just more of a "we have a lot of settings for you to fiddle with and see which sounds best" sort of thing?
thanx john! i have actually always found most hi-fi forums to be really friendly places and it seems to be the same here! funny, i always said i would NEVER do vinyl (but i used to say the same thing about tubes too haha) but i sure am looking at it hard these days...
Hey Mike, The Denon DL-110 is an MC (Moving Coil) due to it's output (which is officially 1.6v, but Denon's notoriously and mostly wonderfully spec higher by some 30% typically) you can and should use an MM (Moving Magnet) input to achieve adequate gain/volume. The real voltage of the DL-110 is closer to 2.2mv. Your cartridge is what is known as a High Output Moving Coil...suitable for use with MM inputs. I own the DL-160, which outputs the same as the DL-110, and use it into an MM input stage.If you use your Denon with an MC input stage....you will have plenty of volume, which might sound exciting for a time, but within a minute or so you will know the sound is overcooked (too much gain). As well, an MM stage will be loaded at a resistive input of 47,000 ohms....and an MC input stage at (typically) 100 ohms. Among other spatial effects, if you load your Denon at too low a resistive input, the treble (most notably) will be quite nearly cut out of the sonic picture and the presentation of the whole cartridge will sound very weird (not lifelike) No harm in you trying your DL-110 into the MC stage (it isn't likely to create any long term harm), but you'll end up with your DL-110 into an MM input stage of whatever phono preamp of your choosing.I hope this makes sense to you - it's difficult in the beginning to take on this new vinyl 'language'. Don't fret - not much done can kill anything - except the painfully obvious....like whacking your cantilever off errantly (has happened to most of us in our long years of vinyl-phooldom).Back to your question....for your Denon, you really don't need to buy a phono preamp with a MC stage, only an MM stage is needed. Those phono preamps with an MC stage, at this point, offer to you the flexibility to use a lower output moving coil in the future without buying a new phono preamp. Don't fret or sweat - keep asking questions and tinkering to understand - and keep at it. We know it's a lot more to understand than plugging in your CDP into a jack on your SET, but vinyl is still the best and most natural front end available to us audiophools today and it's worth overcoming the technical hurdles to getting it right. Very few of us go thru this ritual because we are nostalgic - we all go thru it because we believe it is worth it to get the most from our audio systems.If I have successfully managed 90% of them now (100% is quite difficult to achieve) - believe me - anybody can John
The Cinemag transformers work very well with the 103 and an MM phono stage.Phill
Strictly for the sake of balance, here is another source for a pre-built, Cinemag-derived SUT:http://www.toonstudio.com/bobsdevices/index.htm
