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Translate with Google from French 🙂 :

Hello,

Here is my problem, I currently have a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo 2M turntable, connected to a Pro-Ject Phono Box MM DC phono preamplifier, itself connected to a SONOS Five via an Audioquest Evergreen mini-jack RCA 1.5 m cable . (Actually, I changed my previous turntable by this one, thinking that the turntable was involved ...)

The problem that I encounter is that the sound saturates on strong voices like Adele or Loreena McKennitt. As soon as the voice increases a little in power, the sound sizzles. I don't have this problem with the digital version of the albums, via Spotify for example. My line input is set to level 2 on AV.

So do you have an idea? Why is the quality deteriorating on the input line of the SONOS FIVE?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Raphael

You should experiment with the Sonos line in level to a higher number, the output of your phono preamp might actually be a lot lower than you think.

 

Edit

So level 8 and upwards, depends how much the cartridge outputs before it gets amplified.

Output voltage 500 mV / 1 kHz at 5 mV /1 kHz

The Ortofon 2M Red (probably best to try Level 9 input on the Sonos)

 

Output voltage at 1000 Hz, 5cm/sec.  -  5.5 mV 

Being a sometimes user of Google translate myself, and in case you weren’t aware:

Vous voudrez peut-être poster ceci sur le forum en Français, la plupart des gens de ce forum ne lisent pas la langue.

That’s my cut and paste from Google Translate ;)

@Belly M 

Not my area of expertise, unfortunately, but I’m wondering if the ‘saturation’ reported is more from a mismatch of the needle and preamp device. Just tossing that hat in the ‘huh, I wonder’ ring. 

The output from the preamp is just too low for the level 2 input hence the distortion.

@Belly M

Not my area of expertise, unfortunately, but I’m wondering if the ‘saturation’ reported is more from a mismatch of the needle and preamp device. Just tossing that hat in the ‘huh, I wonder’ ring. 

This can happen if the needle is MM and the preamp is for MC - causing an over voltage driven clipping in the preamp. But the OP situation cannot be that because his preamp is MM capable. 

I don't see how the low voltage can cause distortion, what it will do is too low a sound level.

I would see what happens with line in set to 10 and work from there.

Yea, was struggling with the concept of low level and distortion, but I just don’t have enough knowledge here to be of further assistance. 

I have changed the entry level to 9 but the problem is the same :disappointed_relieved: .  When I connect my MAC to the entry line with the same song, i have not this saturation … :thinking: . Another idea ? 

 


Presume that the phono preamp has power and is turned on? It’s possible the preamp is faulty?
 

Best thing to do is connect the turntable and preamp to line in on an amplifier which has speakers or a headphones connected and see if the issue is still there. Perhaps you have a local hifi dealer who can help?

Yes, the preamp has power and it turned on 😉. I have before an another turntable with an integrated preamp and the problem was the same. I have wrote to Sonos, waiting for response. 

As Belly M has said already, what you need to do is to temporarily replace the Sonos device with another amplifier/speaker system and see if the problem still exists then. You could then swap out the cable to be sure that this is not the cause.

One possibility is that you might be running the cartridge with too little downforce? This can lead to a good output when the record has lower level signals, but at higher levels it can cause the cartridge to stop tracking properly, leading to distortion?

This is a mystery to me, but I will follow this thread to see what problem and solution finally emerges.

Hello. The problem seems to come from the press quality of some vinyls. The material is good I think.

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