Tracer Bullet

I just got a turntable with a built-in pre-amp. I plugged it into the aux line on my receiver, but I'm not getting any sound of out of the speakers. That should be it, right? I can't figure out why it's not working and it's driving me crazy.

Deadman31

you need two turntables and a microphone.

gmanca

Are you sure it has a built in pre-amp? What model is the turntable and are the RCA cords a part of the unit or does it have RCA jacks?

I can think of three things, either there is no pre-amp or it's not working, the needle is not working, or the pre-attached RCA cords, if applicable, are not functioning.

kefrank

Some other things to check:
- that the cartridge is properly wired to the tonearm
- that you definitely have the correct input selected on the receiver
- that the gain setting on the turntable is not turned all the way down (it's unlikely that it has gain, but if it really has a built-in preamp it's a possibility)

Regardless of whether it has a built-in preamp or not, you ought to hear *something* when it is connected to aux and you have the volume turned up loud enough.

Is this a new or used turntable? What model is it? How do you know it has a built-in pre-amp? All of this info might help us solve your problem.

Sdallnct

You likely cannot plug it into the Aux input of the receiver (unless it really does have a pre-amp).

Have you tried plugging into the phono input of the receiver?

Agreed, what is the brand/model of the turntable.

I'm dating myself, but I seem to remember there were different type cartridges. And your pre-amp had to be matched to the type of cartridge. I had a little integrated amp that you swapped a little circuit board for the type of cartridge. But even with the incorrect type, I would think you would get something.

Numanoid

That's the first thing that occurred to me, too.

Lemmy

I know that you play music with it, but you never, ever, ever try to make music with it. That's just noise.

Tracer Bullet

I figured it out. The stylus cartridge had come slightly unseated but it was unnoticeable. I removed it and reseated it and it works fine now.

kefrank

Glad you got it figured out!

Just to clarify a few items from this thread, for posterity's sake:

-- A turntable pre-amp applies the RIAA equalization curve and steps up the output. So, if you plug a turntable output directly into a line-level input on your receiver/amp with no pre-amp in between, you would typically get some sound, but it would be very quiet and would sound thin even if you turn up the amp volume.

-- There are two commonly-used types of cartridges, moving magnet and moving coil, and each type requires a different pre-amp (or a switchable pre-amp that supports both). There are exceptions (high-gain moving coil carts), but that's not worth getting into here.

Sdallnct

No discussion on how a belt driven turntable often sounds better than a direct drive? Disappointing! LOL

Spiky

I tend to listen to the music instead of the machines. That ALWAYS sounds better. But to each their own.

X

I have a pre-amp that doesn't require switching between the two. It has a gain control.