Hello,

After months of experimenting with different equipment and room treatments, I am approaching sonic nirvana. My biggest realization is that I prefer the sound of vinyl to cds in my system.

My question to folk out there is a two-parter. The first part has to do with clipping/distortion I get at high volumes. When I am using my CD player (Onkyo DX7555 with DAC) I can get the maximum volume I need. When I am playing records (on my Technics 1210M5G with Acoustica Technica 150MLX cartridge and run through the RR2150's phono stage) I cannot quite get the volume I want without clipping/distortion. This typically happens around the 2:30 setting on the Outlaw. I am using Paradigm Studio 100s V3 as speakers, and they are made to handle a lot of power so I suspect the problem does not originate from them (I'll post their specs at the bottom of this).

So the first part is, could the RR2150 be failing me in this regard? Granted, I will not frequently want to get that dial past the 2:30 mark when playing records. It is plenty loud right there. But every once in a while I will.

The second part of my post has to do with the possibility of adding a more powerful amp to the RR2150's preamp. Anyone have any experience with that? If not and if I want to do it, what specs should I look for in an amp in order for it to work well with my speakers and the Outlaw's preamp? Further, since I have now learned that I prefer analog sound to digital, would it be advisable to consider purchasing a tube-based amp, one strong enough to get me where I need to go from time to time while introducing a little more "warmth" to my system? If so, any recommended brands/models?

Any info anyone could provide would be much appreciated!

Dennis

Speaker specs: Three-way, five-driver, floorstanding, reflex-loaded loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" aluminum-dome tweeter, 6.5" mica-polymer-dome midrange, three 7" filled polypropylene-cone woofers. Crossover frequencies (slopes): 300Hz (third-order), 2kHz (third-order). Frequency response: 44Hz-22kHz, ±2dB on-axis. Low-frequency extension (DIN): 28Hz. Sensitivity: 88dB/2.83V/m anechoic, 91dB in-room. Impedance: 8 ohms compatible. Recommended amplifier power: 15-350W. Maximum input power: 210W (typical program source, clipping no more than 10% of the time).

Is it possible your turntable is picking up sonic vibration at higher volumes and then causing the distortion? It is also possible the turntable does not put out enough signal to the 2150 causing you to overdrive the amp at higher volumes. In the first case a bigger amp won't help. You may be able to get a phono cartridge with more signal out. Also recognize that a tube amp with significantly more power than the 2150 is going to be BIG $$$$. When using the digital source how much volume adjust do you use. Is it at 2:30 at max volume.

might be an impedence mis-match in the cartridge too.