Quoted from Goronic:I have a question. I have a Yamaha RX-A3030 receiver that has a phono input. My speakers are the Klipsch reference premier line that include the RP-280F so needless to say power isn't an issue. I got a crosley C100 turn table and it sounds nice, BUT when I play CDs or Bluerays it is very crisp and loud, on phono the sound is still good but I have to turn it up twice as loud to get the same volume (so -40 CD takes -10 for phono). Do I need a preamp? Better cables? Better turntable???
You should expect some difference in gain between different sources but what you're describing sounds pretty extreme. It could be any number of things. Assuming you've got everything connected correctly, it could be that your receiver's phono amp is not matching the relative loudness of the line-in amps. Modern receivers sometimes have phono-ins as an afterthought and it could be that Yamaha just didn't pay good attention to the phono-in. If that's the case you can buy a phono pre-amp with a gain adjustment and run your pre-amp out into the receiver's line-level input, then adjust the gain on your pre-amp so that it better matches the line-level inputs.
It could also be your turntable, or your needle. Different needles have different outputs, and the loudness of the output is not really a predictor of the quality of the stylus. Those Crosley tables aren't that great and frankly, before dumping money into a pre-amp, I'd probably spend my money on a better turntable and stylus and not worry about the volume difference. If you have a good table and good stylus and need more volume, just turn it up. Its very common for different records to have different loudness so you're always tweaking the volume to some degree anyway.
I highly doubt its the cables unless they are flat out defective.