Alph Seeker Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Question for the tech savy / audiophiles among us. I am setting up a home theater 5.1 system to include a new ht receiver. It does not have a phono input. I have not used my turntable in many years but want to include it in this system. The receiver is decent (Denon AV-E400) and my speakers are pretty good (Cambridge soundworks bookshelf model 17's and Basscube 8), but the turntable is a basic Onkyo belt drive from the 80's with original stylus. So, im not expecting super hi-fi given the source and speakers.Question is, should i spend about $50 for a pre-amp for the new receiver or just use my old Pioneer that has a phono-in and double connect (or install a switch) with the speakers? In other words, have one receiver or 2? Will a cheap pre-amp negate any bennefit to using my new Denon?Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CygnusX-1Bk2 Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 A preamp should work. You may want to research them first. I'm seeing some as cheap as $15 and as much as $350 in a quick search. Price doesn't always indicate quality in electronics, though it is a factor. If you know you don't need audiophile fidelity but still want something that sounds good the $50 level may be ok. Some older turntables require a ground connection to avoid hum. A receiver with a phono input usually has a screw dedicated for turntable ground wires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alph Seeker Posted December 11, 2014 Author Share Posted December 11, 2014 My turntable does not have a ground. never really had hum except at louder volumes that i lways figured was the stylus picking up the actual music and causing feedback b/c the speakers were too close to the source.Heres another one. the Denon does not have MHL capability. Im wondering if a MHL adapter will allow me to direct connect my galaxy s4 (mhl capable) to an hdmi in on the Denon. Id like to play music from my phone without using a bluetooth adapter (Denon also does not have bluetooth. It does have network via ethernet cable tho). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narps Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 I may have a few questions after the holidays along these same lines. I am planning on getting some quality speakers from Santa and setting up my late 70's (yes I still have them) Technics turntable and Onkyo receiver. Also getting out and dusting off my 400 or so albums that I have kept all these years and enjoy them again. We shall see what happens in the next month or so.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treeduck Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 My stereo looks like a maniac's guitar rig, it's a Technics top of the range stacking system from 1988 with new power speakers by Kef and Celestion, plus the original Technics surround sound globes. So 6 speakers altogether. The original Technics speakers blew sometime in the 90's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CygnusX-1Bk2 Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Never even heard of MHL, had to look it up. My Pioneer receiver takes USB so I can connect that way. My older Yamaha had a proprietary iPod connector but the newer one had USB instead. My Pioneer doesn't even take component input, just HDMI and composite which is crap. I guess I'll have to get an USB turntable. My good linear tracking Technic died just after I moved a few years ago. Still have a cartridge though. It would have to be unbelievably loud for a stylus cartridge to feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troutman Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 I have my eye on this to go along with my setup. http://anchorage.craigslist.org/ele/4799934148.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alph Seeker Posted December 11, 2014 Author Share Posted December 11, 2014 Never even heard of MHL, had to look it up. My Pioneer receiver takes USB so I can connect that way. My older Yamaha had a proprietary iPod connector but the newer one had USB instead. My Pioneer doesn't even take component input, just HDMI and composite which is crap. I guess I'll have to get an USB turntable. My good linear tracking Technic died just after I moved a few years ago. Still have a cartridge though. It would have to be unbelievably loud for a stylus cartridge to feedback.So when you connect your phone to usb can you select music on the phone same as normal or do the music files show up as a menu on the receiver display or tv?Does your Pioneer have audio-in RCA jacks? If it does but does not have a dedicated phono-in, then that is like my new one which needs the preamp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CygnusX-1Bk2 Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 No dedicated phono in, no audio only input either. I have connected my iPod classic to the USB port and control from either the iPod itself or the remote control for the receiver. Simple controls like play, pause, next, back, ff & rw. Haven't connected my phone or iPad. Not sure if the receiver accepts video through USB either. I got the Pioneer because I was having HDMI issues with my second Yamaha. I still need to send it to Yamaha for repair. The Pioneer was cheaper, more powerful and sounds a little better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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