TX-NR636 phono stage

[slipperybidness]

He wrote that a home-built phono preamp sounded better and that's why I think it's in the phono stage.

I have seen some tonearms that only have a pair of holes for the cartridge, not slots. I got a ProJect for a customer and I need to go to their house tomorrow, so I'll look at it to verify. I do know that it's a darn nice turntable and, after mounting literally hundreds (if not thousands) of cartridges, if it's not the phono preamp, it may be that the cartridge is mounted all the way back in the slots- only a few cartridges need to be that far back and I don't think this is one of them. The photo on the Projet site shows the screws in the middle of the slots, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was set up properly- might just have been an aesthetic decision for the photo.

OK. Yeah, I missed that. Looks like you are correct.

So, if it is truly the Onkyo phon preamp, then I suspect that this unit is defective.

 

[Alli]

I have an Onkyo TX-NR414 receiver hooked up to a Denon DP300F and a 2M Red cartridge, along with some good Klipsch bookshelf speakers, and I've had no problems at all with the sound the receiver gives me, set to Direct feed. I'm really happy with the sound quality given that it's a relatively low budget setup. I'm pretty sure your probs are not from Onkyo making crappy equipment that doesn't work with TTs. I agree with someone else who suggested that perhaps your particular receiver is defective, or those who mentioned a problem with your cartridge alignment. Otherwise, I can't even guess what the problem might be. A loose wire inside the unit or god knows what.

Sidenote: FWIW, I asked the folks at needledoctor if it would be very beneficial to my sound quality to use an (affordable) external preamp with my set up, even though my TT has a built in one. I trust them to tell the truth and not just say yes to try and make a sale, and they told me that, while the sound I get now is pretty good, it could be even better if I did actually use an external preamp, and they recommended the Vincent Audio PHO-8 Phono Preamp.

PS - this is my first post in this forum; hello!

 

[lee_from_ct]

this is an old thread; but wanted to add that I have an Onkyo 646; the built-in phono pre-amp section in the Onkyo is good quality. If we were in a conditioned listening room with professional quality studio audio monitors; we could argue that dedicated phono pre-amp brand x or dedicated phono pre-amp model y might sound "better" than the Onkyo pre-amp. But basically, any moving magnet or moving coil cartridge on any 100% mechanical turntable should sound very good; if it doesn't, it's not Onkyo's design.

That being said; setting everything up correctly can be a bother and there are many things which can go wrong. Each record should be cleaned (correctly) before each play. The stylus/needle should be also be cleaned correctly and checked for wear; they do break, fail, and just wear out. If you have a dog or cat... check every time you play a side. (I have a special little brush and fluid for stylus cleaning; and a dedicated little microscope to check the stylus!). Tracking force, anti-skating force, other things to set up... correctly for your rig. If you bought a "new" turntable; you must be 100% sure there is no amplifier (or any other electronics) hidden in the turntable; and if it's a 1970's antique; you may need to ship it to a qualified tech to verify that the 50-year-old wires and connections are all OK. I'm sure there are hundreds of articles on the internet which explain all the little bits.

A newer turntable (especially if there is a USB output) will probably have a built-in pre-amp: if you're going to use the Onkyo phono-input; you need to be 100% sure you can disable / bypass the electronics.

There is a reason why most consumers flocked from records to CD: there is lot more to know, and a lot more to do to get records to sound good. Much easier to press "play" on an iPod. But there are some of us who think records just sound "better."

 

[Carl Martin]

I know this is an old thread, but i found it by searching for the very same issue. I bought a Rega Planar 1 to go with my TX-NR636 and at first i was pleased with how my vinyl sounded. Within hours things sounded very different, very quiet. This is my second Onkyo over the years and the first one was crap and then blew up. Wish i had sent it back, but never bothered. This one seems OK apart from the phono. maybe i'll just use something to plug the TT into and then, from there, into the Receiver.

 

[Lew18]

Old thread, but I have this receiver working well so thought I would add. TX-NR636, with a Audio-technica AT-LP120XUSB TT, powering soundstage 3D series 150W towers. I upgraded the cartridge to the AT-VM95ML/H (red), but played for a few months with the AT-VM95E (green) that it came with. This TT has a built in pre-amp that you can bypass with a switch. Forgot to bypass it first play, and wow that sounded bad. But when running direct to the phono input, WITH A GOOD GROUND, the system sounded very reasonable. With the standard cartridge the highs were a bit bright and even slightly distorted, may have been a damaged needle. But after upgrading to the nude square shank needle, I was very impressed. The full range is coming through clear as good or better than listening through spotify. Nothing here is very high end, but it sounds plenty good for my ears.