mistake buying Onkyo 600 ( no phono) (1 Viewer)

[Eric_M]

Ok so I get my Onkyo in the mail finally after a bit of a wait and I came to the unpleasant surprise it has no inputs for phono. Cripes! I never thought of asking or looking to see if it had one. Originally back in January I had ordered a 595 which has the inputs but due to it being discontinued I was never able to get one and had to wait until the newer models. Anyway I ordered the 600, and now I find out it has no phono and I listen and continue to buy records now and again. Now what? I recall there being another way to hook up a record player via some adapter or something. Any help on this would be appreciated. I would like to see if this is a viable alternative or should I just stick to looking for another reciever and return this one. Thanks in advance

 

[BenG]

http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...Fid=970%2D1018
This basically amplifies the phono signal so that it can be hooked up through any line-level input. The website says out of stock, but if you write down the part number and take it into a retail store, they should be able to order it for you.

 

[Eric_M]

ok correction from last post.

The piece I was referring to is a phono pre amp. I also noticed that in the long thread about the Onkyo 600 they did say no phono. I either didn't remember or just plain didn't notice. Talk about attention to detail.

Anyway I would hate to have to start looking for a 595 or even start looking for a new reciever since I was so set on an Onkyo for so long. Besides that I wonder if other companies would even have phono now too. Also it seems that the 600 would be a nice reciever otherwise and would hate to make the mistake of returning it.

I would like to know more about these pre amps, how well they work in comparison to having phono on the reciever, price ranges and what's the better ones out there. I don't need anything really nice or fancy but something that gets the job done. Thanks and sorry for the rambling or ignorance.

 

[Tony Lai]

Phono on receivers are usually poorish quality. The vast majority of vinyl lovers would laugh at a phono input on a cheap *surround receiver*.

If you don't like Radio Shack (I can't imagine why a slightly better one is one of the NAD preamps.

T.

 

[Saurav]

I've used that RS phono preamp for many months. I bought it as a temporary measure until I bought a better one, and it stayed with me while all the rest of my system got upgraded. I finally retired it when I built muyself a new preamp. Bottom line - I can recommend it highly, and especially for its price, it's simply amazing. Try it out, I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed. It's only 'flaw' is slightly low gain, so you might have to turn your volume control up a couple of extra notches when compared to your CD player. If your receiver lets you set levels for different inputs, that's a non-issue.

The vast majority of vinyl lovers would laugh at a phono input on a cheap *surround receiver*.

The primary reason is that a phono cartridge's signal is a couple of millivolts, and it needs to be amplified to the level of a CD player (line level), which is around 2V - that's a thousand-fold gain. It becomes very important to shield the phono stage from EMI/RFI so that the noise isn't amplified too, and the inside of a receiver with tons of digital circuitry is probably the worst RFI environment possible. The RS unit has a metal enclosure which shields it, it runs on batteries so there's no 60 Hz hum to be amplified a thousand times, and it also sounds great - good bass, nice drive and dynamics, and so on.

 

[Tony Lai]

What I'm getting at is that my current surround preamp has phono (yes I don't know why) and the performance on this phono is less than spectacular.

I'm saying that the inclusion of a phono input on any modern surround receiver/preamp is an anomaly.

I would take a lack of phono as a blessing in disguise and a tip to buy an inexpensive well regarded external phono.

T.

 

[Saurav]

Totally agree. FWIW, someone compared the RS unit to a modded NAD PP-1, and thought the RS one was better. Pure hearsay, so take it for what it's worth.

 

[Eric_M]

Well unless I want to start looking for a new reciever like the new Yamahas, a 595, then maybe I should take it as a blessing in disguise.
Anyway Radio Shack is out of these for the time being. Has anyone heard of this one?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=1350736452
It looks similar but has an AC cord.
Thanks

 

[Saurav]

I had something very similar for a while, and I hated it. Lots of 60 Hz hum. This one could be different, but it looks identical. If you want to try it, MCM Electronics sells it for around $15.
I think someone sells the battery powered RS units on eBay from time to time. Keep an eye out. Here's one link, this auction ended a few minutes ago:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=1351500912
Hard to find, since he says "Stereo Audio Preamp", the word 'phono' doesn't appear in the title anywhere. You could try emailing him and asking him if he'll just sell you one.