How Sensitive Is Your Line In...

[oldskool69]

I always find it interesting from one box to the next the variation in input sensitivity on "Line In". Some vary from loud as radio to pretty quiet. Waht are your experiences? Discuss...

 

[redbenjoe]

same here --
most are as strong as the radio -
a few are just 50-60% as loud

but none are 'quiet'

 

[bill]

on the nice boxes its sounds great the nice boxes being pc550 fh7 pioneer sk95 sanyo m9998k and m9996 .
one thing i can say for sure is on the m80 m70 and m50 all of mine seem to be quieter than the radio.

 

[eldorado]

similar to radio.

radio always the extra zing from being radio,

but i get loud from inline too...

and from phono, also pretty fat

 

[bill]

only my big sonys have a ok line in for phono. to be honest i think most boomboxes phono line ins are not very good at all.
the pc550 is pretty good but they still all sound pretty thin. the phono preamps on boomboxes for the most are just ok.

 

[jameswp67]

are we distinguishing between line in the phono? Line in is usually fine, but phono you often have to have much quieter or it distorts

 

[monchito]

i belive that line in should be about the same in all boxes but because of different designs it will always vary as some may add an adj pot on the board some are just fixed and some route the line-in in a way that loses some of the signal as it passes though the circuit ,, there will alway be some more hotter than others in that sense....

 

[bill]

line level should be flat with no boost or attenuation in a perfect world it would all be the same but with boomboxes because of the differences in quality of wires ect there is always differences.
the phono line ins vary a lot because of the different pre amp circuits.
i still dont use the phono preamps with any of the boxes.
honestly i would rather just use a bigger stereo for listening to records.

 

[Ghettoboom767]

For Line-In exclusive hook-up.
One of the poor ones -The Sanyo M9998,not near as loud as the radio section.
Incredible is the Sharp GF-990G-It's frikkin unbelievable-louder than the radio it seems at least as loud!! Incredible sound.
PC-55's are really good to & of course the M-90!!!
Great thread-Freddie-GB.

 

[bill]

thats interesting because i just used the line in on the m9998k i have as well as the m9996 boxes i have while we watched a movie on the projector last night.
everyone who watched it commented on how good they sounded .
i also have thought the line in on mine was pretty good compared to some of the other boxes i have or have had.

 

[Master Z]

I think the line in the Kaboom is weak.
I use the guitar amp section with the gain all the way up. still not as loud as other boxes line ins.

 

[bill]

i dont really like line ins that are a eighth inch mini plug.
heres the thing.
the two early model kabooms i have without the guitar jack sound louder than the newer one with the guitar jack and adjustable gain.
one thing for sure tho on my kaboom with the gain plug on it turned up is unusable as a line in it just overdrives the signal maybe mine is broken but i cant use the line in with the adjustable gain for anything other than a guitar or a dynamic mic.
the moment i turn the pot up on it it just overdrives the signal

 

[Jovie]

When buying an old box,often times the line-in will need cleaning.Off the top of my head,among the most notably sensitive in my collection would be my G.E. 3-6000.It has the much preferred dedicated switch for auxiliary.This box has loads of bass and excellent loud highs.I love its retro-mod layout,simple controls,and solid build.With a sensitive line in,beautifully sleek looks,and great sound its one of my favorites.

One of the least sensitive I've experienced would have to be the Magnavox D8443.Its line in is VERY weak,almost inaudible,and requires engaging the tapes "record" function (clean heads).Strangely if you input through its line out,it is slightly louder.I've tried putting 2 headphone amps in a series between the source and line out with only moderately loud results.

My D8300 with its similar speaker layout is a much better box than the D8443 in every way (except looks).The line input is very sensitive although it requires engaging the tape "play" (clean heads) to hear anything :annoyed: . Its also better sounding due to its equalizer.I only wish they had made it better looking.

 

[BoomBoxDeluxe]

A lot of my boxes are pretty good on the line-in, but I have to say this.......

I am not sure if it's faulty or something, but my Sharp GF-9000 is utter crap.

I have a personal CD player with a LINE-OUT on it, and this works fantastic with all of my other boxes.

Connect it to the GF-9000, and I have to have the vol all the way to MAX. Also, with the GF-9000, it doesn't have a line-in selector, so it's one of those boxes where you have to press play on the tape deck for the sound to come through.

I just =HATE= that on a box!!!! WHY didn't they just add a line-in selector?!


-BoomBoxDeluxe

 

[eldorado]

of course

PHONO is different from LINE IN


PHONO is to connect outup from a Turntable

LINE IN is LINE level,

which is different in impedance, and much higher.


but PHONO is more lovely because it has butterflies and blue lights on thursday

 

[928GTS]

The other problem with phono inputs is that most of them have the RIAA phono curve on them which means you need to either buy a line in to phono converter or make a reverse image of the RIAA curve to cancel it out.

 

[Ken]

but PHONO is more lovely because it has butterflies and blue lights on thursday

 

[blah blah]

most my boxes have a fairly decent inline, probably because my radio reception is so shite I don't notice a difference. it does seem the m70 seems a bit quieter though as someone commented above. the 931 is booming inline, big ben too.

i do notice it really depends on the quality of the input whether CD or mp3 etc. a wide variety of crappy songs are out there. Since I mostly listen to streaming it really depends on the stream