Poor sound quality with turntable and preamp inputs


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I have a Fluance turntable connected to a Fluance preamp to a Play 5. When both input cables are plugged into the preamp, the sound quality is horrible - we can’t hear vocals at all. When we unplug either the red or the white input cables on the preamp, the sound quality improves but we’re missing a lot of base and it’s a little hollow. 
 

We’ve changed the RCA cables and I’m going to try a different preamp. We’ve also changed the line level on the Sonos app and it didn’t help significantly. Any other suggestions??


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Are you sure the turntable doesn't have a built in pre-amp? What happens if you connect the turntable to the play:5 directly?

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I can’t hear anything at all without the preamp.

Userlevel 7
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Do you have a conventional receiver with phono and line-in (maybe CD) connections? Try the turntable to the phono inputs and see if it is working. If it is thsn connect the turntable to the preamp and the line-in terminals and check it.

Only other thought is check the cartridge wiring, the pins on the back to the tone-arm connector, possibly some are on the wrong pins.

 

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The turntable only has audio connections. I’m connecting straight from the turntable to preamp to Play 5. No pins on the back of anything to adjust.

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Looking at the Fluance site the cartridge wires I mentioned are clearly visible in the first few seconds of this video.

 

https://www.fluance.com/rt85wh-reference-high-fidelity-vinyl-turntable-white-gloss#content-Resources

How to Install and Align a Cartridge on a Fluance HiFi Turntable RT80 and RT81

 

 

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Thanks for that clarification. How do I know if the pins are attached correctly? Pics attached

 

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Hopefully they will have that information in their setup manual, it really should be there as proper wire to pin connections are vital to getting the sound out.

https://www.petervis.com/record_players_and_turntables/headshell_wiring/headshell_wiring.html

https://www.petervis.com/record_players_and_turntables/audio-technica-cartridge-wiring/audio-technica-cartridge-wiring.html

 

 

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The pins were already installed. The instruction manual for cartridge connections is below but that doesn’t mean a lot to me.

 

Userlevel 7
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Can you take the turntable somewhere that has an available Phono in jack pair and test it there?

Maybe a local friend that understands turntables could take a look at it?

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I reached out to Fluance as well. Thanks for your help!

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