Pearl Phone stage with Dynavector 10x5

[bmwrob]

Even if I’m born with “analog gear”, I haven’t used a turntable in almost 20 years! I ran into a VPI Scout turntable for a price I simply couldn’t resist. A friend of mine has a pearl phone stage kit; I’m planning to buy. I’m considering buying a Dynavector 10x5 cartridge.

Would the rather high output from the cartridge be ok for the pearl stage? If not, what can be done to overcome this problem?

Are there any more suitable choices of cartridges in the sub U$ 400 region?

The pearl will be connected to a Krell KRC-3 pre-amp.

[bmwrob]

Maybe I should rephrase my question: Would 2.5mV be too much for a Pearl Phono Stage?

[ingvar ahlberg]

No it wont be to much although the pearl´s performance is optimum at around 1mV the Dynavector wont overdrive it and noice will appear even lower.
Otherwise take a look at Grado sonata/reference series wich are
among the best there is at very nice prices.

[bmwrob]

Tack Ingvar! I noticed that the Grado Sonata’s output was even higher then the Dynavector.

Now when I now I will not overdrive the pearl, I hope I can try out a few different cartridges from my dealer, so I can do my own comparison. Unfortunately, here in Asia, shops are not so keen of letting their customers tryout equipment at home. It needs to be done in the actual shop.

We’ll see what I end up buying.

Once again, thanks for the reply.

[ingvar ahlberg]

Hi Rob
The Sonata is available in two versions, the prestige series wich have 5mV output and the reference series wich have 0,5 mV output, the refernce a bit more expensive but well worth the money.

[Gregorio]

The Pearl which I/m building right now has 40db of gain. The 2.5mv of the Dynavector will not over drive. Nor will the Grados at 4.5mv. The reference series Grados at .5mv will not be enough for the Pearl on its own. I use the 4.5mv Grado Sonata. Grado also has a 1.5mv version of these cartridge which mignt be enough with certain set ups.

GE

[DaveM]

I am running a stock pearl with a high output moving coil (goldring eroica on an MMF-7) with 2.5 mV of output. It seems about right to me. I need to turn the volume to about 12:00 to achieve the same volume as my cd at 10:00. I would not go much lower than 2.5 mV.

DaveM

[bmwrob]

Thank you all for the comments. Can’t wait till I get my Pearl parts so I can start soldering and try it out.