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AUDIO FORUMS >> General Discussion and Support >> Zp3 Phono Stage Gain Issue
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Message started by Moma1921 on 01/17/23 at 15:48:18

Title: Zp3 Phono Stage Gain Issue
Post by Moma1921 on 01/17/23 at 15:48:18

Hi There,

I have a zp3 phono stage that I've had for a little while but only recently realized there may be an issue with it when I recently hooked it up to a Sonos port after temporarily using a cheaper phono preamp that I got on amazon. The amazon amp is an Emotiva XPS-1 and it is substantially louder, with a lower noise floor, and more clarity. It looks like it the gain is similarly spec'ed so I'm a little confused as the decware gives me maybe about 40% less volume than the Emotiva.

My setup is a VPI Scout 1.1 with a Clearaudio Virtuoso 1 cartridge. I run that through the given Phono stage and into the Sonos Port. Any ideas here on how to get the gain that I'm looking for? The ZP3 volume is just barely acceptable when i have the sonos turned up to max volume and the Sonos input gain set to its highest level, which I assume is why the noise floor is so high.

Could it be a bad tube? Is my cartridge just a bad match for the ZP3? Should I add a pre-amp? These are the things I'm considering.

Title: Re: Zp3 Phono Stage Gain Issue
Post by Paul64 on 01/17/23 at 22:51:29

I have a Soundsmith cart with about the same output as your cart and it works fine without the stepup transformer. I play all my music (very large library on external drive ) through Sonos. I dont however run my ZP3 thru it. My ZP3 goes direct to my ToriiMk4. I recently upgraded to S2 and the Port and very quickly realized that I forgot initially to go into setting and change Line-Out to Fixed. That resolved the volume issue.

Hope it works for you.

Title: Re: Zp3 Phono Stage Gain Issue
Post by Moma1921 on 01/17/23 at 23:26:51

Yeah, I guess in my situation is a little different.. the issue is that I am actually feeding wireless Sonos speakers, not wired speakers being driven by a separate amp. It its the gain level coming out of the ZP3 Phono amp that is much different than the XPS-1.

Title: Re: Zp3 Phono Stage Gain Issue
Post by CAJames on 01/18/23 at 01:59:16

Quote:

Posted by: Moma1921 Posted on: Yesterday at 23:26:51

...It its the gain level coming out of the ZP3 Phono amp that is much different than the XPS-1.

So you're using the MC input of the XPS-1?

Title: Re: Zp3 Phono Stage Gain Issue
Post by Moma1921 on 01/18/23 at 02:27:29

Nope...it's on the MM setting.

Title: Re: Zp3 Phono Stage Gain Issue
Post by CAJames on 01/18/23 at 03:30:55

Then it sounds like there is a problem with the ZP3 because it should have slightly more gain than the XPS-1. Maybe a bad tube?