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Silence_Kit 
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Joined: 02 Feb 2019 Status: Offline Points: 14 |
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 Topic: Newbie Hello & Newbie QuestionsPosted: 08 Feb 2019 at 4:54am |
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Hi everyone! My name's Ryan, and I'm currently living in Cincinnati, OH. I'm new to the forum and brand new to the world of phono preamps. I've been listening to records for 15+ years, but am just now getting serious about trying to upgrade my system. What I have so far is fairly basic: Dual CS 5000, Ortofon 2M Blue, Onkyo TX-8222 receiver (pretty entry-level, I believe), and some old DLK/1 speakers. (My understanding, and experience, is that these sound surprisingly good for vintage speakers that can be found for under $100.)
I started auditioning a Gram Amp 2 SE with PSU1 on Tuesday. (Thanks, Bruce!) I've been having a lot of fun with it, and my initial impression is that it sounds great. It's also got me tinkering with the rest of my system, trying to be sure I'm maximizing its impact. A very basic question occurred to me today—I'm wondering if my Onkyo receiver is powerful enough to be fully compatible with the SE. I did a little digging and read that you want the input impedance of your receiver to be at least 10x the output impedance of your preamp. (Do I have that right?) I was able to find the input impedance for my receiver—150 mV/50k ohms—but I'm not seeing the spec for output impedance on the product page for the SE. Apologies, since I'm probably just being dense. Is "output impedance" synonymous with "output range"? On a perhaps unrelated note, I've noticed a very soft hum coming from my Onkyo receiver this evening—not through the speakers, but from the unit itself. From what I've read, it sounds like that could be an issue with the power transformer in the receiver, or DC offset. Or could it have something to do with the preamp? Thanks so much in advance for any insights, and for your patience with a total neophyte.
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Chris Firth
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Joined: 16 May 2013 Location: Rossendale, UK Status: Online Points: 1532 |
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Posted: 08 Feb 2019 at 6:46am |
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Hi Ryan The Gram Amp 2SE was my first Graham Slee phono amp, and I had many years of use out of it before I upgraded to my Reflex M. The Gram Amp 2SE is a cracking performer! You can find the manual for your receiver at https://www.hifiengine.com The input impedance of your receiver is a normal 50kΩ, so you shouldn't have any compatibility issues with the Gram Amp 2 SE, just so long as you keep away from the receiver's phono input. If the hum isn't heard through the speakers it could be tranformer hum - they all do it, but some are more prone to it than others. It could be mechanical coupling causing the issue, and as you've said it's really quiet I'd be inclined not to worry about it. |
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patientot
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Joined: 28 Nov 2018 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 1525 |
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Posted: 08 Feb 2019 at 3:33pm |
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Welcome!
Re: the receiver, others that know more will chime in but I'll just say try to keep your phono stuff (TT + preamp) away from any receiver or amp. If your equipment is set up horizontally, consider moving to a vertical style rack instead. Then you can place the components on separate shelves and experiment with positioning more. If the hum bothers you at all, you could look into getting the receiver looked at by a tech. RE: the speakers, the only thing I would suggest is that if they are quite old, you may want to look them over to see if they can be spruced up. The most common issues I see with old speakers is that they need to be refoamed and the crossovers inside need to be rebuilt. Good luck with your audition.
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Silence_Kit
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Joined: 02 Feb 2019 Status: Offline Points: 14 |
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Posted: 08 Feb 2019 at 5:00pm |
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Thanks for your replies! Glad to hear there are no compatibility issues with my receiver. The hum sounds quieter this morning, hardly there at all. I've been playing a lot more music than usual this week, so I may have just been working it harder than it's used to. As long as it doesn't get worse, it's probably a non-issue.
I'll take a look at the speakers this weekend. I'm sure I can find this info elsewhere, but are there any telltale signs I should be looking for to determine whether they need refoaming or the crossovers need to be rebuilt? (I imagine I'll end up replacing the speakers sooner or later anyway, because I'm sure I can do better.) Thanks again!
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patientot
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Joined: 28 Nov 2018 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 1525 |
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Posted: 08 Feb 2019 at 5:11pm |
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Here is a link that shows a speaker being refoamed:
Here is one on replacing capacitors in a crossover: These are meant as examples only, I can't guarantee these are the best videos or instructions out there. |
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