Hi all, as above I'm new to everything & can't wait to read any old threads I can find & see what I can learn. Hopefully I will learn as I think I already may have made an almighty boo boo!!!
All I've bought so far is a dared mc-7p pre & small mono blocs but I did try them today at a friends house using a musical fidelity x-ray. The rest of my system will come after a massive aquarium upgrade & re decorating. My boo boo is that tonight I plugged my phone into the pre's phono input & then wondered why it was playing at such a low volume!!!
Number, 1, have I killed my phono input? Number 2, I'm really confused as to why it was playing so low? Isn't a phono input supposed to have a higher gain so shouldn't it have been louder? Have I just shown what a total noobie pratt I am?
Taking the above into account, should I also stay away from the tweak thread about the dared mc-7p!!!???
All I've bought so far is a dared mc-7p pre & small mono blocs but I did try them today at a friends house using a musical fidelity x-ray. The rest of my system will come after a massive aquarium upgrade & re decorating. My boo boo is that tonight I plugged my phone into the pre's phono input & then wondered why it was playing at such a low volume!!!
Number, 1, have I killed my phono input? Number 2, I'm really confused as to why it was playing so low? Isn't a phono input supposed to have a higher gain so shouldn't it have been louder? Have I just shown what a total noobie pratt I am?
Taking the above into account, should I also stay away from the tweak thread about the dared mc-7p!!!???
Yes..sorry you did ask..
Regards
M. Gregg
Still haven't worked out why the volume was so low through the phono input that is supposed to have higher gain, any clues?
No clues without seeing it all, it would all be guessing... although several things come to mind.
I don't think you will have damaged anything either
At least the last bit gives me a bit of hope. I might not end up having to get another phono stage for it.
Sorry, no I haven't. I will do a search of the net & see what I can come up with as I'm sure there's a few sites where they tweak these.
I'll try & lend it to a friend that has a turntable & see what happens. Even if I didn't damage it, I definitely think there's something wrong with it if it played a line level source at such a low volume. Anyway thanks to everyone for offering assistance.
You may find,
it has only MM not MC phono..there is quite a difference...also a line in is going into phono (turntable)..this has RIAA EQ and will distort your line signal..
If you have a schematic it will be easier to help you..
Regards
M. Gregg
The input is definitely only MM, what I'm trying to determine is if there's something wrong with it because it played at such a low volume with a line level source plugged into it.
It was a mistake & I wasn't going to listen to the phono input with a line level source. The problem I have now is that I bought these but didn't plan on buying a turntable for another few months.
NB,
If you are new to valves /tubes..Please read the working with High voltage thread(Sticky at the top of the forum)..The voltages on tube gear are leathal and can hold charge after power off for some time...I'm not joking either...please take care!
I doubt if you damaged anything, however if you plug a MC into it your gain will probably be to low...so if you test it with a friends TT remember they may have a MC..
Regards
M. Gregg
If you are new to valves /tubes..Please read the working with High voltage thread(Sticky at the top of the forum)..The voltages on tube gear are leathal and can hold charge after power off for some time...I'm not joking either...please take care!
I doubt if you damaged anything, however if you plug a MC into it your gain will probably be to low...so if you test it with a friends TT remember they may have a MC..
Regards
M. Gregg
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Thanks for the warning. I have to admit I only joined because there was some info on my amps but I'm glad I did as I read the bit about high voltages already & that helped me before I even posted a message!
I've also had a look through the gallery & I'm amazed at what you guys can do. I love a bit of DIY but mine is more mechanical, woodturning, built a bandsaw & build my own aquariums & gear but now I wish I was more electronically minded.
One thing though, thanks to this forum & reading through some threads, I am learning more about what goes into a valve amp & what it does so that can't be bad.
I work in a metalwork so the cabinet would be dead easy, all I need to learn is the fiddly bits.
I posted at the start that there could be several reasons... but one thing is for sure. A phono preamp should blow your socks off with any line input.
With the volume turned really low and with the phono input selected, (that was one of the things I wondered if you had missed) and if you connect just phono leads to the input and lightly touch the centre signal pin the hum and noise should be massive. If it isn't then something needs looking at.
With the volume turned really low and with the phono input selected, (that was one of the things I wondered if you had missed
) and if you connect just phono leads to the input and lightly touch the centre signal pin the hum and noise should be massive. If it isn't then something needs looking at.I posted at the start that there could be several reasons... but one thing is for sure. A phono preamp should blow your socks off with any line input.
With the volume turned really low and with the phono input selected, (that was one of the things I wondered if you had missed
That was exactly what I was thinking from the start, it should have been louder but now you've got me wondering if I ever selected the phono input!! The low volume could have been due to the sound just leaking through the inputs, I know there's a name for that but I can't remember now.
Looks like I need to turn everything down & try this again.
Sounds like it to me..used to be called crosstalk..or pick up..
If you do try it..phone at lowest volume..main amp volume at lowest setting and turn up slowly..I still don't think you damaged anything...unless there was already a fault on the unit.
Regards
M. Gregg
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Crosstalk! That's the word I was looking for. I will try it with everything at 0. Thanks for all your help & I'll keep my fingers crossed.
You need to learn that a phono input is configured as a low level input and not as a line level input. Lets plug your phone into a line level input and see if the preamp is working correctly. If it is not working correctly then lets turn everything off and take the tubes out one at a time and reset them. Sometimes a tube can make an intermittent contact and not work correctly.
Next lets ohm out the interconnect cables and look for an open which can happen in any cable or simply try another pair of interconnects.
What do you have for mono block amps? Do they have an input control? If so is it turned up to a normal level?
Have you checked your speaker cables and speakers? Are the speakers fused?
These are just a few things to check before you rip into the preamp.
I do wish they were available here in the states as I haven't ever seen one here. Definately a good price at roughly $1K.
All the above was checked & yes the line level inputs did work, I think the answer is going to be that I didn't actually switch the pre to phono & I was listening to crosstalk.
I thought Dared was available in the U.S. I've seen lots of threads about them & there's a Dared Italia too. Granted, most of the threads were invaded by the neurotic, maniacal Chinese haters. The only reason I bought mine now from Italy, the only place I could get them from, was because all ebay & normal shop sites were running out of stock. New stock due..........October 2013!!! I know this company make fatmans too but I'm not sure if even that would keep them busy that long.
To be honest this is a bit of a strange brand, there's a company name that doesn't even have a website. I can buy Ming Da, Shanling, Yaqin, Yarland & some others in China & in other countries but Dared is only available in countries where there's a distributor, & I think thats only Italy & the U.S but not in China & because I really wanted them, I had to order earlier than I wanted to. By the way, Yarlands look remarkably like music angels to me, are they?
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