Vincent Pho 8 Phono Preamp

[Hbcueducated]

I just picked up a Vincent Pho 8 phono preamp. The horseshoe connector to the ground wire from my turntable (Technics SL D202) will not fit around the post for the preamps's ground terminal, which is thicker than any post I've seen on a preamp or receiver.

There's a hole in the post, but the ground connector won't fit into that either.

Does anyone have this phono preamp, and if so how did you connect your TT's ground to it?

 

[TLS Guy]

I just picked up a Vincent Pho 8 phono preamp. The horseshoe connector to the ground wire from my turntable (Technics SL D202) will not fit around the post for the preamps's ground terminal, which is thicker than any post I've seen on a preamp or receiver.

There's a hole in the post, but the ground connector won't fit into that either.

Does anyone have this phono preamp, and if so how did you connect your TT's ground to it?

So this is your preamp.

So the ground connector is the same as a speaker terminal.

You have too options. I think the first is the best.

Go to an auto parts store and buy a few spade connectors of the correct size, also buy the crimping tool for these auto connectors. I told you to buy a few as there is a slight learning curve to crimping if you have not done it before. I suspect the wire from the turntable is small gauge, so you will need a red spade of the correct size. The red connectors are the smallest, blue for larger wires and yellow for the largest.

Now cut off the connector that is too small. Now remove a little insulation from the end of the wire and crimp on the correct size connector.

Get enough bare wire to just go though the spade, and have the insulation JUST enter the spade. Now use the part of the crimping tool with the same color as the spade. Crimp it right in the middle of the cylindrical part of the spade. Crimp hard with one swoop and not in a limp wristed fashion.

Second option is to by a speaker banana plug to go in the whole. Buy one with a screw terminal in the end of it. You can get one at Radio Shack, if you can find one that is open and has stock left.

Now cut of the spade connector on the turntable and strip off enough insulation to fit though the whole is the banana plug, screw the terminal down and plug it into your preamp.

Does your ground terminal have a hole which is uncovered when you unscrew the top part? It probably does. In which case you have an easy quick solution. Cut off the spade and take off some insulation and poke the wire though the transverse hole uncovered when you unscrew the top part of the terminal, then srew down tight.

You will have to use a DIY solution to solve this and display at least a small modicom of skill.

 

[Swerd]

I just picked up a Vincent Pho 8 phono preamp. The horseshoe connector to the ground wire from my turntable (Technics SL D202) will not fit around the post for the preamps's ground terminal, which is thicker than any post I've seen on a preamp or receiver.

There's a hole in the post, but the ground connector won't fit into that either.

Does anyone have this phono preamp, and if so how did you connect your TT's ground to it?

Does the Pho 8 look like this? And if you unscrew the binding post, is there a hole through the post, or are you referring to the opening visible in the photo?

And does the "horseshoe connector" on the ground wire look like these?

If you unscrew the binding post, is there is a hole running through it's side (similar to the red speaker binding post in the photo)?

If so, cut off the horseshoe connector, and trim off about a half inch of plastic insulation. Run the bare wire through the hole in the binding post and tighten it.

 

[Hbcueducated]

Gentlemen, thank you for the solutions to my issue. Geez, I wish this quirky feature had been noted in at least one of the reviews I read prior to purchasing this unit. Nevertheless, thanks to you I have a game plan for addressing this annoyance.

 

[TLS Guy]

Gentlemen, thank you for the solutions to my issue. Geez, I wish this quirky feature had been noted in at least one of the reviews I read prior to purchasing this unit. Nevertheless, thanks to you I have a game plan for addressing this annoyance.

We are glad to help.

It is not a quirky feature. That is a good grounding plug. There is no standard for this, so they can use what they want. When you are done, you will have a much better ground. The usual ones are too small and often break. This should not be a reason to not buy that unit, in fact the reverse.

When I was a lad, there were no complete turntables. They did not come with a plinth or arm. You bought the turntable and the arm almost always from a different manufacturer. You then figured it out and gained in knowledge and skill.

These three turntables were bought by me long ago, with no plinth and no arms. They have been in a number of installations over the years.

One of those turntables in a previous residence.

So you've never had it so good now!

 

[Hbcueducated]

Duly noted. I joined Audioholics to learn and be educated. Mission accomplished.

 

[TLS Guy]

Duly noted. I joined Audioholics to learn and be educated. Mission accomplished.

In that case, a hearty welcome to this forum. I think it is a good place to learn. I hope you will be a long term member and make contributions to the forum. Lately we have had some posters join who would try the patience of Jobe, and frankly exceed it!

 

[highfigh]

It's a binding post, nothing more. That said, I think it's a better choice than the all-metal grounding post on most devices because it offers the option to use a banana plug and when the preamp needs to be grounded to something else, it makes the task easier when a spade lug already occupies the lower space.

Another choice, which should work as a temporary measure would be to insert one prong of the tiny spade lug into the hole of the binding post. It should fit and as long as you don't tighten it so much that the metal shears off, it would make a good connection. Best bet- properly crimp a new, larger spade lug on and solder it. That's the most fault-tolerant method of joining a wire to a terminal.

 

[TLS Guy]

It's a binding post, nothing more. That said, I think it's a better choice than the all-metal grounding post on most devices because it offers the option to use a banana plug and when the preamp needs to be grounded to something else, it makes the task easier when a spade lug already occupies the lower space.

Another choice, which should work as a temporary measure would be to insert one prong of the tiny spade lug into the hole of the binding post. It should fit and as long as you don't tighten it so much that the metal shears off, it would make a good connection. Best bet- properly crimp a new, larger spade lug on and solder it. That's the most fault-tolerant method of joining a wire to a terminal.

With correct crimping technique you should not have to solder it. Though for audio use, I usually do. However I do auto electrics as well and round here now, especially tractors. In these case I never solder, and don't have trouble as a result.

The OP probably does not solder, or he would not have posted. I would assure him that just crimping will be fine.

 

[highfigh]

With correct crimping technique you should not have to solder it. Though for audio use, I usually do. However I do auto electrics as well and round here now, especially tractors. In these case I never solder, and don't have trouble as a result.

The OP probably does not solder, or he would not have posted. I would assure him that just crimping will be fine.

I did car audio for a long time and then, worked servicing boats. Properly crimping is something that's lost on many people, though. When the terminal has a split in the ferrule (many brands and levels of quality have this), most people don't bother to make sure it's in the center of the concave part of the die, so it ends up distorted and not making good contact. The problem with this is time and environment- the spade lug may be gold or nickel-plated, but the wire will be bare copper or might be tinned, but the ends will be bare and since copper oxidizes from skin oils and humidity, soldering is just good insurance, regardless of how long terminals work outside.

For marine and auto, or in any installation where temperature extremes or humidity might be a problem and it would be difficult/unsafe to solder, I like the Heat N Shrink or Heat N Seal terminals.

That said, I find it amazing that open crimp terminals work as well as they do in hostile environments but get them wet once and it's a different story. This is really bad when a boat manufacturer uses one color of wire for everything in a bundle, from the engine compartment to the helm and some of the butt splices got wet and came apart. I'm still active on a boating forum and help people diagnose problems with performance and accessories that "mysteriously" stop working properly, if at all. Lots of bad terminations are causing the problems and it's not always the end-user that does the work, either.

 

[TLS Guy]

I did car audio for a long time and then, worked servicing boats. Properly crimping is something that's lost on many people, though. When the terminal has a split in the ferrule (many brands and levels of quality have this), most people don't bother to make sure it's in the center of the concave part of the die, so it ends up distorted and not making good contact. The problem with this is time and environment- the spade lug may be gold or nickel-plated, but the wire will be bare copper or might be tinned, but the ends will be bare and since copper oxidizes from skin oils and humidity, soldering is just good insurance, regardless of how long terminals work outside.

For marine and auto, or in any installation where temperature extremes or humidity might be a problem and it would be difficult/unsafe to solder, I like the Heat N Shrink or Heat N Seal terminals.

That said, I find it amazing that open crimp terminals work as well as they do in hostile environments but get them wet once and it's a different story. This is really bad when a boat manufacturer uses one color of wire for everything in a bundle, from the engine compartment to the helm and some of the butt splices got wet and came apart. I'm still active on a boating forum and help people diagnose problems with performance and accessories that "mysteriously" stop working properly, if at all. Lots of bad terminations are causing the problems and it's not always the end-user that does the work, either.

We have lots of boats here in Lake country, I have a number myself. Yes, boats are a special problem that require extra care and diligence.

Sunrise over Benedict Lake from my front lawn.