Home Theater Forum - View Single Post - Can I use Denon DRA-37 with a turntable?

wcap07 · 07-25-2007, 04:05 AM

This is sort of a silly, newbie question I suppose but....

Is it possible to use the Denon DRA-37 tuner with a turntable? If so, how?

The context for my question:

Our 20 year old Denon tuner has started developing some problems, and we decided to replace it. We don't need surround sound, and the best choices of the less expensive models at the store I was at seemed to be either this Denon or an identically-priced Onkyo (don't recall model, but it was one that was set up to connect to two tape decks). The Denon seemed to have more different imput and output options, so I chose the Denon.

When I got this home, I first realized that there was no ground connection for my turntable (a 20 year old Denon turntable), and then I realized there was no place designated to connect a turntable otherwise either (something I totally missed in the store). I tried connecting the turntable to one of the spare sets of connections (though there was no way to connect the ground), but I found that the signal was very very weak, and the only way to get sound from a record was to turn the volume way up (and even then the sound is sort of strange and lacking in fullness and sort of high-pitched and weak.

After doing some Google searching I found mention of pre-amps being necessary with turntables. Presumably this was built into our old tuner, but not this new one.

So, should I just return this tuner? Or is there a work around for this that is not very expensive? (I do recall that the Onkyo did have connections for "Phono", or something along those lines, so maybe that one would work?).

(This is probably a good reason why I should have gone shopping at a decent audio store rather than Circuit City....the sales staff at Circuit City were totally useless, and unable to answer any of my questions.)

Thanks in advance for any advice any of you can give me!

07-25-2007, 04:05 AM	#1 of 10
wcap07 *Will* Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Local Time: 03:51 AM Local Date: 12-02-2008 Posts: 5	Can I use Denon DRA-37 with a turntable? This is sort of a silly, newbie question I suppose but.... Is it possible to use the Denon DRA-37 tuner with a turntable? If so, how? The context for my question: Our 20 year old Denon tuner has started developing some problems, and we decided to replace it. We don't need surround sound, and the best choices of the less expensive models at the store I was at seemed to be either this Denon or an identically-priced Onkyo (don't recall model, but it was one that was set up to connect to two tape decks). The Denon seemed to have more different imput and output options, so I chose the Denon. When I got this home, I first realized that there was no ground connection for my turntable (a 20 year old Denon turntable), and then I realized there was no place designated to connect a turntable otherwise either (something I totally missed in the store). I tried connecting the turntable to one of the spare sets of connections (though there was no way to connect the ground), but I found that the signal was very very weak, and the only way to get sound from a record was to turn the volume way up (and even then the sound is sort of strange and lacking in fullness and sort of high-pitched and weak. After doing some Google searching I found mention of pre-amps being necessary with turntables. Presumably this was built into our old tuner, but not this new one. So, should I just return this tuner? Or is there a work around for this that is not very expensive? (I do recall that the Onkyo did have connections for "Phono", or something along those lines, so maybe that one would work?). (This is probably a good reason why I should have gone shopping at a decent audio store rather than Circuit City....the sales staff at Circuit City were totally useless, and unable to answer any of my questions.) Thanks in advance for any advice any of you can give me!