Audio Equipment Update and Review, Cambridge 540p Phono Preamp
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- Опубліковано 16 вер 2024
- I recently had to purchase a Phono Preamp for my turntable after upgrading to a new receiver. Here's what I bought and why, and a bit of a review as well, Enjoy!
2021 this pre amp still rocking
THANK YOU, YOUR INFORMATION WAS EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED, NOW I CAN PUT THE BOOM IN THE TOMB.
Nice review. Please post a follow-up review in a few months. The only reason I ask is because I see folks posting great reviews of entry level audiophile turntables then a few months later they're back to using a vintage TT (WTF). It appears money spent on preamp and/or cartridge upgrades might be the way to go. (?)
Fun review, Wes. A friend just gave me his rarely used 540P. It's a nice upgrade from my old NAD PP1. While the PP1 was a good bargain phono in its time, the sound quality is more coherent and detailed top to bottom through the 540P.
Nice. I've got the 540p along with an Ortofon 2M Red on a restored Panasonic RD2900, and it's great. Stepping up to entry level audiophile stuff really is worth it. It's like going from a Geo Metro to an entry level BMW. I also run my stuff into a surround receiver. I don't think there's many vinyl heads that do though, heh. Still got the 2CH / bypass mode, at least.
Cool, I just upgraded to a 2M Red a few months ago myself and I have a 3 series BMW albeit an old one. I guess I am on the right track. I play vinyl on a pretty recent 7.1 channel pioneer receiver. It does 2ch just fine.
@Imasofat Yes, that is pretty much normal to have to use the delay feature. As long as the end result is the video and audio are in sync, then all is good. It has to do with the different speeds all these different devices can process the different digital signals.
Would've love to hear a comparison recording of all 3 preamps...Videos like this make me spend money quickly...While I'm happy with my $20 preamp, its just sealing the deal that I'd be blown away by a $250 tube preamp i'm about to drop the hammer on...
The main benefit of the 640p is that it also supports more high end moving magnet cartridges.
Cool video. Looks like a nice product.
The Creek Phono pre-amps have a built in "warp filter" (a much cooler term...) I have the Creek OBH8SE and it sounds great, there's no loss of bass or anything like that.
Thnx for the review gonna get the Pre amp asap and drink a delirium tremens to celebrate as soon as a hook it up...
The 651p supports MC cartridges (moving coil) along with MM cartridges (moving magnet) that the 551p already supports. There is a switch on the back of the preamp to go between the two. I think that most cartridges are MM and only the super high-end are MC, so the 651p may be overkill unless you're configuring a top of the line system. Look at what you've got, consider what cartridges you may upgrade to in the future, and then choose between the two preamps.
Delirium Tremens is a fantastic beer BTW
If you are able to handle a soldering iron, you get yourself a top quality home made preamp with a dedicated PSU. ESP Sound Products from Australia supplies the PCBs and instructions. P06 Rev A (preamp) & P05 Rev-D (PSU). I have no financial interest in ESP. Just sharing my experience with people like yourselves. (Cost is about £70.00, the most if it being the power transformer)What I have done in my Technics SL1210 MK II is taken out the original power transformer and voltage selection board, (because the turntable had developed a serious hum-bought on eBay). Discarded the said items, and the P05 PCB fits beautifully in the transformer well and the preamp PCB fits also into the voltage selection board space (one corner of the PCB (P06) had to be filed off to accommodate within - but no big deal).I replaced the transformer with a nice toroidal with secondary outputs of 0-20V 5A (for the turntable drive) and 15V-0-15V 0.5A for the P05. The transformer is housed in a die cast aluminium box (from RS Components) and feeds the turntable via a 1.5m 5-core mains cable (smallest rating) which is hardwired to the turntable through the original plate, but the other end plugs into the aluminium box via a 5 way DIN plug. The same plate holds the L&R RCA outputs. This arrangement allows me to place the transformer well away from the turntable and I am very happy to say, it is as quiet as a mouse (CD player).(For those that are interested, I have installed a battery powered MC head amp inside the turntable as well, placed close to the pitch control with the PP3 (9volt) battery stuck under the platter with double sided adhesive, because I am using an MC cartridge but that's another story).
Useful review, but the gallon of beer makes it very relax
Is that delirium beer in matching glass? You sir, have earned my respect!
Thanks for the review, Wes! I'm an 'audiophile' wanna-be and I found this video to be very informative. Do you have any specific vintage receivers you'd recommend? In the mean time, I'm certainly considering purchasing the 540p as a companion to my current system. Keep those vids coming as they're a great resource for novices like me! LOL! :-)
@arcteryk It sounds better than any built in preamp I have tried in the past.
@punktexas I will try to remember to do that. Yeah I hear what you are saying. I use a Vintage Technics turntable myself. I was considering getting one of those entry level audiophile ones myself but I really couldn't fins a good reason to do it. What I have has a good tonearm, the speed is accurate, and its quiet, what is there to improve really? I would rather put that money towards more records and maybe try a different cartridge now and then. Thanks for watching!
All this stuff is confusing to me. I bought an amp about 3 years ago but I think it was a little out dated at the time. I can only run my BlueRay and Cable box through it. I have to set a 'delay' to the audio because by the time the video gets to my tv, I was hearing the audio before the picture by quite a bit. Very annoying and not acceptable. Maybe I have it setup wrong, but at least the delay setting helped somewhat.
Okay, thank you for the info.
If you are getting a lot of slow movement from your woofers in between portions of music then that is when you would want a subsonic filter. I have very little experience with tubes, I have looked at some of the lower cost tube preamps myself and read a lot of the reviews and they seem to be a mixed bag. It seems that the tubes they come with stock are not good and yo find yourself tuning it with different tubes.
Are you sure you have the ST-150 set up properly. Is there some kind of switch that needs to be on for the preamp or is there a power cord missing? It sounds like you are only getting the low level output directly from the cartridge and trying to amplify that.
Hey Wes, how do I determine if I need (or should) get a phono preamp model WITH a rumble filter/subsonic filter? Also, are the tube phono preamps simply hype and looks, as I suspect, or can they give you superior sound? (For reference I use a Music Hall mmf-5.1 into an Integra receiver.) Thank you!
Hey, good video. How does your new phone preamp sound compared to your old receiver with the built in preamp? The receiver I'm using has a built in preamp,
skip to 8:27 for how the device sounds.
Hi, i want to remove the preamp of my audio-technica at-lp120, and i want to buy an external one for better sound, are the cambridge preamps good enough for this turntable?
All the high end tables (Project Essential $300 and Music Hall 5.1 $875 to the outlandish priced tables) do not provide preamps. They require an outboard higher quality preamp. In other words one sign of a cheap table is a built in preamp. If it was not a difference it would not sell. I got my Nano preamp $400 before I get my table next year, but I love electronics.
You should try the Cambridge cp2 I just got it and the sound is amazing I will be posting the video soon retail it's $230.00 you would have to spend twice as much to find one noticeably better.
I am using a Schiit Mani preamp now, It was the winner of a preamp shootout on a channel I respect and it has been quite a good preamp.
SupraWes I have herd nothing but good things about that amp looks nice and sleek too. I'm getting a yaquin cd3 tube buffer for my birthday then after that my setup will be complete I won't need and more upgrades after that.
hi guys, I'm going to buy a phono preamplifier like this to use with my new thorens turnable. does anybody know what's the difference between the new 551p and the more expensive 661p? I can efford the more expensive one but I would like to know if it's a quality differences or only a connectivity difference. (Isaw the rear side of the 661p and it has more imputs than the 551) Thank you.
Check stereophile for their recommended components. Some are affordable!
sound quality is different between op amp and transistor preamp. op amp
design is a lot more accurate than a transistor preamp.
sir hellp me.my new sound system denon avr 1513 no phono chanel only aux chanel.and my turntable sonodyne direct drive model..rp 4000d.not work my new sound system plz hellp me.
GET TO THE POINT
God...get to the point ...
Oh my gawd!! Can you talk any slower dude! This whole review could have been done in 90 seconds flat. Stop doing these looooonnnnnnggggg reviews.