I apologise in advance for a novice question, but I’m looking to learn and get more into audiophile equipment. My current setup is a turntable --> RIAA stage --> active speakers. My speakers (Klipsch R-15PM) actually have an integrated RIAA stage, but I bought a separate one because physical constraints forced me to place my speakers five meters from the turntable, which would be too long of a cable run for such a weak signal. So the seperate RIAA stage is feeding into the line level input for the active speakers. This setup has been working well for me, but I’ve been missing the opportunity to use headphones with my turntable.
I’ve already decided on the headphones and the headphone amp (Meze 99 Classics and Schiit Vali 2++), but I’m trying to understand how to set up the rest of the system. Does the preamp output on the Vali simply forward the signal from my RIAA stage without doing anything to it? In that case I can use the same setup as before, only adding the Vali between the RIAA and the active speakers. But if that’s not the case, and the Vali actually amplifies the RIAA output to a normal preamp level, will it still be possible to feed this signal to the phono line-in for the active speakers?
Basically a phono stage applies the RIAA (of course) and bring the signal up to line level.
I expect phono stage > Vali > speakers will work. Indeed it is a bit of a weird construction as you use the Vali as a pre-amp and use its output for input of the pre-amp of the speakers. If the Vali deliver substantial gain you might overdrive the pre-amp of the speakers.
You can simply try.
You might consider using a switch to connect the TT to either the headphone amp or the speakers. In theory this should improve listening to the speakers as you skip a entire box of electronics. If you like the coloration of a tube amp, you won’t agree with this statement.
To cite Schiit (excellent at guerilla marketing)
1,000-10,000x higher distortion? Are you nuts?
To keep this short, yes and most probably.
The Vali outputs are variable, controlled by the volume knob.
If you wanted to plug your TT into the Vali you’d still need your phono pre-amp (RIAA stage). Then the outputs from Vali to the line-in for your Klipsch would still work, you’d just have to manage two volume controls.
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