Onkyo AVR on the blink; Turntable preamp

[Squishman]

My Onkyo AVR is busted. Seems a processor or something. HDMI arc, inputs, power and volume control mostly non-functional (yes, I tried a hard reset to no avail). Under warranty, so that's great. Also great is that the repair shop is local.
A buddy at work loaned me a much older Onkyo 5.1 avr which has no phono input. I thought I'd be shipping my amp and that it'd be multiple weeks to get it back so I bought a real cheap turntable preamp on Amazon. Now, I bet the turn around will be faster. Anyways, it's a Pyle brand. Sounds way better than I was expecting. I paid about $17 I think. Mids and highs are sharp, bass is a little muddy. But it'll get me by for hopefully not too long.

 

[TLS Guy]

My Onkyo AVR is busted. Seems a processor or something. HDMI arc, inputs, power and volume control mostly non-functional (yes, I tried a hard reset to no avail). Under warranty, so that's great. Also great is that the repair shop is local.
A buddy at work loaned me a much older Onkyo 5.1 avr which has no phono input. I thought I'd be shipping my amp and that it'd be multiple weeks to get it back so I bought a real cheap turntable preamp on Amazon. Now, I bet the turn around will be faster. Anyways, it's a Pyle brand. Sounds way better than I was expecting. I paid about $17 I think. Mids and highs are sharp, bass is a little muddy. But it'll get me by for hopefully not too long.

So, despite a change of ownership they are still Onkyblow.

 

[Squishman]

So, despite a change of ownership they are still Onkyblow.

I suppose so. Hope it lasts for a while after I get it back.

 

[Squishman]

On second though (or listen) the Pyle tt preamp is definitely too harsh playing The Kinks "Schoolboys in Disgrace" loud. You get what you pay for. If I ever have to, no doubt I'll spend more on a tt preamp.

 

[TLS Guy]

On second though (or listen) the Pyle tt preamp is definitely too harsh playing The Kinks "Schoolboys in Disgrace" loud. You get what you pay for. If I ever have to, no doubt I'll spend more on a tt preamp.

The sound of a preamp is independent of how loud you are playing it. You are clipping the receiver, and if you keep it up, you will blow another one. If you keep doing this, you will either blow up amps, go deaf or both. But you will need to purchase external amps, before you need to buy hearing aids.

 

[Squishman]

Not clipping. Simmer down now. It's just not as sharp as what I am accustomed to. It sounds ok, not fabulous.

 

[Squishman]

The repair shop has my amp. I hope they can fix it or have Onk send me a new one. I doubt that that would happen, but that'd be great.

 

[Eppie]

On second though (or listen) the Pyle tt preamp is definitely too harsh playing The Kinks "Schoolboys in Disgrace" loud. You get what you pay for. If I ever have to, no doubt I'll spend more on a tt preamp.

If you had asked here first, members would have told you to avoid Pyle. Pretty much everything they make is cheap junk. Not much else available at that price but at only $20 at least you have tunes for a couple of weeks.

 

[Mikado463]

Seventeen bucks ? hell that's a decent burger and fries ............

 

[Squishman]

Seventeen bucks ? hell that's a decent burger and fries ............

I'd love a seventeen buck burger! Add in an IPA or two and round it up to $30 and I'm in!

 

[Squishman]

....... at least you have tunes for a couple of weeks.

That was the objective!

 

[TLS Guy]

Not clipping. Simmer down now. It's just not as sharp as what I am accustomed to. It sounds ok, not fabulous.

If it was the preamp causing distortion it would be the same whatever the volume. If the distortion is occurring as you increase the volume, then the amp is clipping, whatever you claim.

 

[Eppie]

If it was the preamp causing distortion it would be the same whatever the volume. If the distortion is occurring as you increase the volume, then the amp is clipping, whatever you claim.

Remember we're talking about a Pyle preamp. I wouldn't discount the preamp being driven into distortion at higher volumes. Who knows how the RIAA curve is shaped in that unit? This is a case of the op just wanting the cheapest option to tie him over for a couple of weeks, so it's really not worth debating.

 

[Squishman]

It is not distorting. I never said that. Just that I can tell the difference. The preamp in the Onkyo sounded great. The pyle is less so. I can discern a difference. When played louder (hope that's ok with TLS Guy that I like to play rock and roll loud) the difference is more noticeable.

 

[Squishman]

Remember we're talking about a Pyle preamp. I wouldn't discount the preamp being driven into distortion at higher volumes. Who knows how the RIAA curve is shaped in that unit? This is a case of the op just wanting the cheapest option to tie him over for a couple of weeks, so it's really not worth debating.

Nailed it!

 

[TLS Guy]

It is not distorting. I never said that. Just that I can tell the difference. The preamp in the Onkyo sounded great. The pyle is less so. I can discern a difference. When played louder (hope that's ok with TLS Guy that I like to play rock and roll loud) the difference is more noticeable.

You still do not understand. If the problem occurs only when you play it loud, then the preamp has nothing to do with it, Pyle or otherwise. A turntable preamp is a very simple circuit, and even Pyle would have trouble mucking that up.

 

[Squishman]

Holy buckets man.

 

[lovinthehd]

I'd not expect much from the Pyle but perhaps noise level is audible?

 

[Squishman]

No, not noise. Just that the Onk is better.

 

[lovinthehd]

No, not noise. Just that the Onk is better.

If it is applying the RIAA properly and no intrusive noise (or distortion perhaps from other than the actual RIAA eq), what else do you think it might be accounting for the difference?