Grado output with the Pearl

[Gregorio]

I'm building a Pearl Phono stage and I'm close to being finished. I'm going to buy a Grado Sonata cartridge for my system and to use with the Pearl. I'm trying to guess which out put level of the Grado I should get. I have a Pass X-250 power amp , a Adcom GFP 750 preamp that I will run in the active mode with the Pearl, and Some Dunlavy speakers that are fairly efficient. The three output choices for the Grado are 4.5mv, 1.5mv, and.5mv. I know that the .5mv will be to low of output for this set up. So I';m trying to decide between the 4.5mv and the 1.5mv. Will the 1.5mv Sonatla work with my set up or will it be cutting it to close and I will need to go with the 4.5mv? From what I've read and heard the lower the output the better ( if you can get away with it).

Thanks

[Panelhead]

Originally posted by Gregorio
I'm building a Pearl Phono stage and I'm close to being finished. I'm going to buy a Grado Sonata cartridge for my system and to use with the Pearl. I'm trying to guess which out put level of the Grado I should get. I have a Pass X-250 power amp , a Adcom GFP 750 preamp that I will run in the active mode with the Pearl, and Some Dunlavy speakers that are fairly efficient. The three output choices for the Grado are 4.5mv, 1.5mv, and.5mv. I know that the .5mv will be to low of output for this set up. So I';m trying to decide between the 4.5mv and the 1.5mv. Will the 1.5mv Sonatla work with my set up or will it be cutting it to close and I will need to go with the 4.5mv? From what I've read and heard the lower the output the better ( if you can get away with it).

I tried the 0.5 mv version and it was not enough. My overall system gain is average, high eff speakers, unity gain line stage.
I suspect the 1.5 mv version will be perfect. The 4.5 version should not overload anything, but the sonics should be better with the middle output version.
The 0.5 version should be the best. But requires a MC stage with 47K loading. This is unusual, I tried 1K and it was worse than the MM at 47K.

George
Thanks