One word of caution about those cheap Radio Shack phono preamps. I tried one once thinking it might be suitable for a non-critical application at school. It hummed, and when I opened it up it was obvious why: it had an unregulated, single-ended power supply and an unshielded power transformer. This one on eBay reminds me of that old Radio Shack preamp:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/401529642317?epid=1541359106&hash=item5d7d081d4d:g:jAEAAOSwI9RjbvwJ&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4PjaLl3IlGJG80uSNertqm3ADYqMdjcq0Tw72M7tT970vI79rQAXQ3Uoz7%2BFa17U8qWzkWgz8SNI9eKJaMJlQs%2FpwmcXKxsh77EYqfKnfeABYSYRlc%2F3Fo94uEI1eNozYNASCB7VbkAzZ7VNaPwuHF0b2aOXzeA%2B204LL89pcOcAGwbekXBcfJV1ZeofNxdJqffARykQbVKLKWd0AHUv2%2BfzJ7xf%2FERkeTuQS0NfDc1nID6elPf8XkudjPJH%2FtD85pCdkIGKTttWtNmuNKi%2FRo1CCHx7%2FptyJNUiLOpWDjds%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8DF8eqUYQ
If you get an inexpensive phono preamp, it would be a lot better if it had a wall wart rather than a build-in, unshielded power transformer. And, I would investigate it to make sure that the internal power supply is regulated and, if it's solid-state, it would be preferable if the supply were dual-polarity (separate + and - DC supply rails). When in doubt, ask the seller. If they don’t know, look elsewhere. I appreciate the fact that not everyone needs high end sound quality or RIAA accuracy that's so tight it squeaks. But, if a phono preamp has even a small, low-level background hum, no one will want to listen to it.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
Best,
Gary
Gary Galo
Audio Engineer Emeritus
The Crane School of Music
SUNY at Potsdam, NY 13676
"Great art presupposes the alert mind of the educated listener."
Arnold Schoenberg
"A true artist doesn't want to be admired, he wants to be believed."
Igor Markevitch
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From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Railroads On Parade
Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2022 5:15 PM
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Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: [ARSCLIST] TEAC A-4300SX
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You all got me to look and there was one of those later little Radio Shack preamps for $5 I bid on as this could go into extra innings.
GW
On Wed, 23 Nov 2022 at 17:09, Railroads On Parade < [log in to unmask]> wrote:
> James, thank you.
> I bought the Citation 11 on eBay. It had flaws that have now floated
> to the surface.
> I was given a Harman Kardon Citation 6 last year and it too has one
> channel out.
> I like these, Radio Shack used to sell very small ones for $15 when I
> was a kid, and they seemed to work just fine.
> But anything to handle multiple inputs outputs and tone volume etc are
> on eBay, but they ain't cheap.
> GW
>
> On Wed, 23 Nov 2022 at 17:04, James Perrett <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> The Revox A700 and some Philips machines (certainly the N4506, N4515
>> and probably others intended to be used with MFB speakers) include
>> phono preamps but most tape machines don't. You can buy basic phono
>> preamps for very little money on Ebay which will almost certainly
>> work better than trying to kludge something together using the mic inputs.
>>
>> James.
>>
>> On Wed, 23 Nov 2022 at 17:22, Railroads On Parade <
>> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> > One must have an exterior preamplifier to record from a turntable
>> > onto
>> this
>> > tape deck, correct? My pre-amp just lost one channel, off to the doc.
>> I
>> > wish someone would tell me my tape deck has a preamp for my
>> > turntable during the repair job.
>> >
>> > Happy Thanksgiving!
>> > Guy Walker
>> >
>>
>>
>> --
>> **********************************************************************
>> * James Perrett
>> * JRP Music Services, Hampshire, U.K.
>> * Audio Mastering, Restoration, Recording and Consultancy
>> * Phone +44 (0) 777 600 6107
>> * e-mail [log in to unmask]
>> * http://www.jrpmusic.net
>> *********************************************************************
>> *
>>
>
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