03-08-2016, 10:35 AM
As you have correctly deduced, many of these inexpensive record players used a single valve amp which required a very high output cartridge to get decent volume. I doubt that many modern cartridges have this sort of output, hence Tony's excellent advice to get the amp in tiptop condition. It's hard to measure the output of a crystal cartridge. Even the 10M impedance of a DMM will be a significant load. Besides which you're not quite sure how deep is the modulation on the record you're playing.
If you really can't get the volume with a new cartridge I suppose you can cheat with a little solid state preamp. Power for it can be bled from the heater chain.
If you really can't get the volume with a new cartridge I suppose you can cheat with a little solid state preamp. Power for it can be bled from the heater chain.
www.borinsky.co.uk Jeffrey Borinsky www.becg.tv