Bottlehead Forum
Bottlehead Kits => Legacy Kit Products => Reduction => Topic started by: M42 on September 25, 2016, 03:55:17 AM
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I'm looking to get some additional gain out of my Reduction. The Integration upgrade is the obvious choice, but I thought I had read on another thread that some have put a Quickie in their system with great results. Would any of the more knowledgeable Bottleheads have an opinion on what the sonic benefits might be compared to the Integration upgrade? Some day I'll own an Eros, but no time soon I' afraid.
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The Integration will indeed be the correct choice to raise the gain. It will also decrease distortion and bring down the noise floor a bit as an added bonus.
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Well, let's start with the why. Are you maxing out your volume controls, or are you just wanting to have the same level between sources?
More than being an issue of low gain, it's the low output cartridge that's causing your problems. Fixing that would help immensely. Barring that, adding gain to your phono stage would be better from a noise perspective. Adding a gain stage after would amplify the signal as well as the noise floor, so it's a double edged sword.
Short answer, for better sound quality, Integration would be better. For more gain, the Quickie (add thePJCCS for even more). For best sound and most gain, Eros.
Also worth noting is that a Quickie with PJCCS and wood base is only $10 less than an Integration and you'd still need batteries.
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Paul & Josh...thanks for your input, I'll stick with the Integration upgrade until such time as I can afford the Eros, or its successor. While I have built a Crack, Reduction and Stereomour....I've been reluctant to attempt an upgrade kit. The thought of tinkering with a perfectly running piece of hardware intimidates me....the only thing I'm certain of is which end of the soldering iron get hot! If I stuff things up...I know where to ask for help.
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Been there, screwed it up, and bottlehead helped me figure it out lol.
Dave