[prepress]

Originally Posted by Stahle

So you want a new phono preamp because your ground wire doesn’t fit the C2300’s ground terminal? Why not just replace the turntable’s spade connector with a larger spade connector?

I didn't think of replacing the spades myself, that's an idea. But I'm not handy or adept enough technically to do it. Better to have someone who knows what they're doing handle it.

The idea for a new phono preamp came from another thread, where the OP was looking for one to use in place of the phono section on his Mac integrated. That idea was intriguing, and I started looking into the Parasound JC 3+ and the Mac MP100. But then I thought the MP100 might give me the same issue as I have now with the C2300 (the ground terminals look the same), and the JC 3+ is more money than I should be spending. I've semi-abandoned the idea for now and switched the focus to another tonearm cable with custom spades to fit the 2300's terminal better. The van den Hul I have now could be replaced for about $500 or so, but I'd need to see if the larger spades (or bananas)? would be extra. A new cable would be my third one; the previous one suffered mangled spades, and the original cable wasn't long enough when I rearranged my system (pre-C2300).

Besides, a separate phono preamp also means an extra set of ICs and another power cord; I do have extra ICs (Kimber Hero and AQ King Cobra) lying around, but I'd have to buy a PC. Add to that the trouble of re-arranging my setup to accommodate the extra box, and a possible tuner upgrade to replace my MD102, and there's enough reason to consider carefully what I do going forward.