I want to hook up an old Technics SL Q202 turntable, to which I added a cheap Audio Technica cartridge (AT120E if anybody cares) to my new HK AVR 635. After doing a little research (emphasis on little), I bought an inexpensive pre-amp, Pro-ject Phono Box MK II, which I thought would do the trick.
I connected the pre-amp to my video 2 inputs (there are no phono inputs on the 635), and now I can listen to my old albums without the unbearable high-volume hiss I used to get using my old receiver without a pre-amp, but the volume is still extremely low. I've got the master volume turned up to 0dB and while the audio quality is good, it's barely loud enough to fill my small living room. By way of comparison, when I'm listening to CDs or DVDs, an analogous volume setting would be about -50 dB.
I don't think it's an issue of moving magnet versus moving coil. I wasn't sure what my cartridge was so I tried both settings and the pre-amp's current setting (mm) is the only one I could get any signal out of.
Am I doing anything wrong? Is this the best I can hope for with a $99 pre-amp?
I'm curious about your problem too. I'm planning on ordering a HK 635 this week and most definitely will want to be hearing my old vinyl LPs played through this receiver. Are there any other inputs you can try hooking the pre-amp to?
Please ignore my previous message. It was my error. I had an improperly seated stylus, so I was only getting a fraction of the signal I should have been. I fiddled with it and then felt a satifying snap into place and now it works fine. I use my Video 2 analog inputs for the turntable.
One issue that I've recently discovered with the AVR 635 is that it sometimes cuts off the first few fractions of a song when you've got your CD or DVD player connected via a digital connection. HK's explanation is that this is a safety feature of the unit whenever a digital stream is interrupted (as between songs of a CD) to prevent a loud burst of white noise. As I said, it's just a fraction of a second and it seems to affect only CDs and songs that start up immediately. If the track builds up slowly or if there's a second or two lead in, you won't notice anything.
But if you're using your receiver primarily for music, as opposed to movies, it's probably something you want to investigate.
Also depends on the player, some players will break the signal between songs while others will not. My DVD/CD player gives a constant stream while my PVR breaks the signal whenever FF/RW or pause.
Excuse my ignorance, but exactly would you have to do to get a digital connection? Because I certainly don't like the idea of songs being cut off, even if it is for only a fraction of a second. I imagine this "flaw" is present in all HK AVR models then.
Most receivers actually. It's in the chipset that many products share across many companies. When the digital stream is broken by the source (DVD,CD,etc.) the receiver switches to analog. When the digital connection resumes, it mutes the output while switching from analog to digital.
The level of annoyance is different based upon what equipment you use. In my system (with an HK430) this happens only at the start of movies, as far as CD playback, who listens through digital? If I do play a CD through digital it only breaks the signal on song one. I can pause the unit for a few seconds at the very start and I dom't miss anything, or just press skip back. The PVR box is more of an annoyance, but I blame it not the receiver, it breaks the digital signal whenever accessing the HD.
I've only got an old (as in 1991) Sony CD player, so I assumed its performance would not be as good as a new (less than two years old, anyway) Sony DVD player (which was also very cheap, around $100 if I recall).
Also, I assumed (perhaps mistakenly) that the DAC in the HK AVR 635 would be superior to the DAC in the Sony DVD player, so I'd get better performance by using a digital coax cable out of the DVD player and letting the receiver handle the conversion.
Am I wrong about this? I'd prefer not to clutter our already cramped house with separate CD and DVD players if not absolutely necessary.
Hook it up both ways and see which one sounds best. Their's no one best solution across the board. The newer DAC will probably sound better, but you never know.
Can you hook up a two-channel analog audio cable to only two of the 6 ch direct inputs? Are there benefits to that?
Right now, I've got the old CD player hooked up to the HK's analog CD inputs (brilliant, I know), but I haven't done a listening test of CD player versus DVD player.
And, actually, I've grown quite fond of listening to stereo music in HK's Logic 7 mode (Logic 5 in my case). It gives a wide open sound while maintaining the discrete L and R content. To my ears, it sounds much better than, say, Dolby Pro Logic II's music setting. It's nice for a change from basic two-channel stereo.
It is the best DSP. I listened to it for several months. Surround off proved way better.
Actually now that I thought more about it, and woke up fully, the 6 ch inputs will not get you any input for your sub. Better to go through the CD inputs how you have. Try the Surround off option A/Bed against the Logic 7.