Cornwalled Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 Hey Guys, I have an Audio Experience Symphonies+ tube preamp and a Marantz CD-5400, and it sounds like the CD Player is overdriving the input of my preamp. I say this because on louder discs it sounds squashed/compressed and on particularly loud discs (Led Zeppelin in particular) it will sound distorted, as if you are overdriving a tube preamp. As a guitar player it's sound I'm familiar with. I love both pieces, and feel they're both great values for the money, but it would seem that they are not a good match. Does anyone have any cd player recommendations that might have a lower output, or perhaps a variable one? I'm hoping it's not the tubes going in the preamp, as they're telefunkens, and weren't cheap. -Jon EDIT: Just to add more info, the sound doesn't break up more when I turn up the volume on the preamp, so I don't think it's the tubes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted May 10, 2006 Share Posted May 10, 2006 have you tied the cd player on another pre-amp/amp and/or a different cd player on your current amp/preamp. The standard for line levels of this nature is 150 MV. Most inputs while rated at the standard will indicate as high as 750 MV used for specification testing in equipment documentation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornwalled Posted May 10, 2006 Author Share Posted May 10, 2006 Hello, I haven't tried another cd player on it as of yet. I found the rated output of the cd player, it is listed as 2.0V rms in the specs section of the owners manual. Also, YS Audio rates the preamp as 150mv input sensitivity, as you mentioned. This sounds like I have a significantly higher output cd player than would be appropriate with this input. Does that sound right? -Jon EDIT: I read it wrong, the preamp's actually rated at 50-100mv on the input, which is lower than average. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shockoman Posted May 10, 2006 Share Posted May 10, 2006 Cornwalled, Which inputs on the pre are you using? Phono or line? I would suggest using the line level inputs for the CD player. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornwalled Posted May 10, 2006 Author Share Posted May 10, 2006 Hey Bob, The Symphonies+ is a line stage, so no phono inputs. -Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornwalled Posted May 11, 2006 Author Share Posted May 11, 2006 Hey MD, What you're saying certainly makes sense. Thanks for clearing that up for me! It's been tricky because I don't hear it al the time, seems like only with certain cds. Could even be that some of my cds aren't as well recorded as I thought. Certainly Led Zep cds are not reference recordings. But as I play a Norah Jones cd everything sounds just fine. Strange! -Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.