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From: crandell@ut-sally.UUCP (Jim Crandell)
Newsgroups: net.audio
Subject: Re: Pad line level to phono level
Message-ID: <3146@ut-sally.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 9-Oct-85 14:31:42 EDT
Article-I.D.: ut-sally.3146
Posted: Wed Oct  9 14:31:42 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 12-Oct-85 19:32:58 EDT
References: <281@kepler.UUCP>
Reply-To: crandell@sally.UUCP (Jim Crandell)
Organization: U. Texas CS Dept., Austin, Texas
Lines: 37

In article <281@kepler.UUCP> mojo@kepler.UUCP (Morris Jones) writes:
>I'd like to be able to play my CD through my friend's Onkyo receiver/amp.
>Problem is the receiver has no other inputs besides the phono preamp
>inputs.  (Grrrrr.)
>
>I figure I can either cannibalize the receiver and look for a line level
>input to bring out to the case, or I can pad the output from the CD 
>down to phono preamp input level.  I realize this is a bit of a crock... 

Depending how big a crock you'll tolerate, how much digging you'd like to
do, and how lucky you are, there just might be a very easy way out of this
one.  Some time around 1960, Sonotone introduced the ``hi-fi ceramic
cartridge'', series 9T (it really did compete fairly impressively with
some of the popular magnetic cartridges of its era).  What is interesting
about this is that since the idea was to encourage people to replace
their old GE stereo VRs (for instance) with 9Ts, Sonotone also produced
an optional accessory -- a pair of plug-in networks, with inline RCA
connectors, to convert the ceramic cartridge outputs to something that a
typical magcart preamp would be happy with.  A ceramic cartridge, you may
recall, is ordinarily used without equalization into a simple, high-
resistance load and has an output level on the order of a half volt;
i.e., a CD player should work nicely into a ceramic input.

The first problem is locating a pair of these little dudes.  My growing
collection of audio memorabilia does include an old 9TAF cartridge, but
I've never had any of the magnetic adapters.  The second is that (I'm
guessing) the adapters just might be made with composition resistors,
and that could be bad news, particularly after this long a time.  In all
honesty, the best you could hope for in any case is a reasonable
approximation, but it might be worth a try anyway.

Does anyone else out there have a ``museum''?  If so, got any Sonotone
magnetic adapters?
-- 

    Jim Crandell, C. S. Dept., The University of Texas at Austin
               {ihnp4,seismo,ctvax}!ut-sally!crandell