Low volume playing vinyl on a Thorens T160 through a Sony HiFI.

[admin_exported]

Afternoon, i am new to Turntables and have recently purchased a Thorens T160. I have not bought an AMP yet as i thought i would be able to play it through a Sony HiFi i have. I beleve i have the right set up in place on the turntable as the quality seems ok to my ears, but the the volume coming the HIFI speakers is low. I can hear it ok, but in comaprison to a CD playing in the HIFI it is nowhere near the same volume level.

It is a case of needing a preamp or an AMP as opposed to using the Sony HIFI and thornes turntable if the two are just no comaptible for high volume.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

regards

Eightbadgers

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

I'm guessing your Sony doesn't have a specified phono input, so it doesn't have a phono pre-amp built in. You either need to get a phono pre-amp like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rega-Fono-Mini-A2D-Pre-Amplifier/dp/B0072RZ95U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361711642&sr=8-1 , or buy an amp with built in phono stage.

ps. You can get cheaper than the Rega, but I just used this as an example of what you need.

 

[chebby]

If you are using an amp without a dedicated phono input (or without a seperate phono pre-amp/phono stage) then I am also a little concerned about whether you know how to set up the arm and cartridge. (Cartridge alignment, setting up correct tracking force and anti-skate, ground lead connection etc.)

Feel free to ask the most basic questions regarding any of the above before you damage any vinyl or a stylus.

There are quite a few people here with turntable set up skills and even a few with Thorens turntables who can help.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your reply, i have just checked and the HiFI has MD & Video options along with the usual CD, Tape and Tuner. I placed the Thorens input leads into the MD slots.

I will take your advice re the AMP, which should give me the correct sound level.

Thanks again for the prompt reply, much appreciated.

 

[Anonymous]

ha ha, half of what you mentioned chebby did not make any sense, i have however read the manaul and looked on youtube for some advice, i did some balancing with the tonearm and i believe i managed to put the right wires into the new cartridge i bought, whch i also set according the manufacturer recommendation.

To my novice ears the music i heard souned good, no buzz or feedback.

one concern i do have is with the dial or slider that lifts & lowers the needle, i think it may be broken, but can't tell. even with all the balancing to get the needle level with the record, there is no obvious indicator to me to say it responds when i move the dial.

i will keep on reading througfh advice forums.

regards eightbadgers

 

[Captain Duff]

First, are you certain it is a MD input on the amp, or MM? If it is MM that is fine (it stands for moving magnet, which is what most lower to mid-end cartridges on turntables are), but if it is MD (and being a Sony I'm guessing it probably is), that stands for mini disc, so is not suitable for a turntable and so you will need a seperate phono stage amp as described by others above.

Second, I am guessing that with the Thorens160 deck (which is excellent, and if set up correctly far better than most of the new Rega's and Pro-jects around now, in my opinion anyway!), you have a TP16 arm. If so, once you have the arm balanced so it just touches a record on the platter, the circular dial above the pivot sets the tracking weight (between 1.5 and 2 grams for most cartridges). The slider control at the side of the pivot does not alter the weight, but affects the bias (tendency for the arm to pull to one side) and should be set at the same setting as the tracking weight to cancel out the sideways pull (if you have this setting wrong either the arm will 'skate' across a record, or you will get distortion in one or both channals).