My sound quality is terrible when using by new Pro Ject T1 turntable through my Play 5. There are two problems: The volume is strangely low. After reading other posts, I adjusted the audio compression to “uncompressed” and I increased the source level. That helped only a bit with volume; it is still too low. The sound quality is very poor. It sounds tinny, slight echo, almost as if in a chamber, and it emphasizes layer of the tracks it shouldn’t, making the songs almost unrecognizable in parts. I am using the RCA to stereo 3.5 cable provided by Sonos.

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Christine_5

Contributor II

Answered

Terrible Sound Quality Line In Pro Ject Turntable T1 to Play:5

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My sound quality is terrible when using by new Pro Ject T1 turntable through my Play 5. There are two problems:

The volume is strangely low. After reading other posts, I adjusted the audio compression to “uncompressed” and I increased the source level. That helped only a bit with volume; it is still too low.
The sound quality is very poor. It sounds tinny, slight echo, almost as if in a chamber, and it emphasizes layer of the tracks it shouldn’t, making the songs almost unrecognizable in parts.

I am using the RCA to stereo 3.5 cable provided by Sonos.

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AirgetlamAnswer

The Sonos Amp is not a pre-amp. It’s a full blown Amp designed to power speakers. Do a search on Amazon for ‘phono pre-amp’ and you should find dozens of options, all, I think, near or below the $30 price point.

Bruce

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John B

Does your turntable have a built in pre-amp? If not then it will indeed sound terrible.

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Christine_5Author

Contributor II

Thank you. Sonos’s site says it plays without the amp, going directly through the Play:5.

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3548?language=en_US

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Airgetlam

Did you turn on the built in pre-amp?

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Bruce

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bjornw

Avid Contributor III

Thank you. Sonos’s site says it plays without the amp, going directly through the Play:5.

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3548?language=en_US

Hi Christine. The site says:

“Some turntables, like the Pro-Ject Essential III Phono, have built-in phono preamps and can be connected directly Sonos without the need for a separate phono preamp.”

So check if your turntable have a built-in preamp and that it is switched on (set to “line”). If it doesn’t have a preamp, you need to buy an external amp an connect it between the turntable and the speaker. There’s a lot of them out there and you can get a decent one for less than $100.

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Christine_5Author

Contributor II

Thank you for the responses. The Sonos amp is $650 which is not affordable for me. Can anyone suggest another type of phono preamp that could do the same job- get the turntable to play?

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AirgetlamAnswer

The Sonos Amp is not a pre-amp. It’s a full blown Amp designed to power speakers. Do a search on Amazon for ‘phono pre-amp’ and you should find dozens of options, all, I think, near or below the $30 price point.

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Bruce