Phono/RCA to 5Pin DIN issue

bombidol

Hey folks. I have a Rotel receiver/tuner from the 70s and a set of Wharfedale Glendale 3XP Speakers that Im rigging up at home at the moment. wired everything up and the tuner is working perfect with the speakers. However my turntable is a Numark and its only output is Phono/RCA ( I dunno what the proper term is) The receiver only has 5PinDIN in so I went to maplin to get some adapters.
They didnt have an all in one solution so I bought a female stereo quarter inch jack to male 5 PinDIN. Then a female RCA/PHONO to male stereo quarter jack out. Plug the two together and grand, it looks good. Plugged the turntable in and for some reason its only coming out the left channel.
Then I used a DJ mixer I had floating around as a go between just in case but the exact same thing happened. Just one channel coming out.
Any ideas or is there a better way to get from RCA/PHONO to 5PinDIN that will give me both channels?

Gar

ZENER

First thoughts would be a contaminated selector switch, very common for the era. It could also be the way the 5 Pin DIN plugs are wired !

What is the model number of the amplifier ? Does it have an input specifically for a MM/MC cartridge or is there a preamp built into the turntable ?

Maybe a photo of the rear of the amp would help too if you can manage it ?

Ken

bombidol

Attached some pics. Its a Rotel receiver.

ZENER

I haven't had much luck with finding a diagram for that amp but here's something you could try to eliminate a faulty pre-amp.

1. Select PHONO on the selector and set the VOLUME for about 30%.

2. Get a paperclip and straighten it leaving one end hooked.

3. At the rear of the amplifier poke the paperclip into each of the 5 pins of the PHONO DIN socket. At some stage you should hear a hum from the speakers, if not increase the volume and try again.

4. Draw a rough diagram of the socket and mark the pins where you heard a hum when you poked in the paperclip. Post it up here.

The amp may be using non-standard wiring for the phono connection, the process above should help us identify it. Also, try connecting your mixer to the AUX/TAPE input and see does that give you sound on both channels.

By definition the PHONO channel should be for low output unequalised turntables which require RIAA equalisation and further boosting to be audible. Your mixer should be sending out between 500mV and 1V equalised which should sound distorted and bass heavy if connected to a PHONO input stage. The correct input for the mixer would be AUX/TAPE though you may need to keep the levels down to avoid distortion.

Let us know what you find.

Ken

bombidol

I'll get stuck in with a paper clip tomorrow. I read online at a different forum that there were european DIN and american DIN connections that were different wirings. Would that be possible?

bombidol

OR how complicated would it be to take the RCA heads off and buy a DIN head in maplins and hardwire it?

bombidol

Heres a link to the manual etc for the Rotel. Thanks!

http://www.hifiengine.com/library/rotel/rx-402.shtml

Soundman

This seems to be the wiring for the pins of a DIN connection. Try wiring it up like this?




Is the DIN adapter you bought wired as a stereo connector? Could be that you have bought one used for connecting a microphone so would be in mono.

bombidol

yeah its wired up for stereo

Soundman

Just in case. Have you tried swapping the L/R around coming out of the turntable while leaving them correct at the adapter, on the off chance that the output of the turntable is bogey?

Soundman

Or you could try a cable like:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Male-Phono-Plugs-Screened-Cable/dp/B000L1ODYW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1370493177&sr=8-4&keywords=5+pin+Din+to+4+RCA

or

http://www.amazon.co.uk/5-pin-DIN-plug-1-2m-Blister/dp/B002KRDKGW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370493177&sr=8-1&keywords=5+pin+Din+to+4+RCA

That way it is just one cable in use so takes various connections out of the equation. With the second link at least you have options for cabling without having to rewire.

bombidol

That last link might be the boyo. Like you said I can try different combos to find the correct left and right. I can also use it to wire into my DJ mixers so I can run the Record player/Cd player/MP3 player through the AUX input.

bombidol

FINALLY. That DIN to 4 RCA cable arrived this morning. Works perfect. Sounds amazing. Thank jasus. and thanks gang!

Soundman

Nice one. Glad to hear it worked alright for you! Was it straighforward enough, or did you have to try a few combinations of the cables?

bombidol

It was weird, I used an RCA coupler and the first combo of RED and BLACK to RED and WHITE worked! Theres a little bleed through the Blue and yellow RCA heads but I think thats to be expected. I just have them hanging loose at the moment.
Im using the DJ mixer as a go between at the moment .So the turntable and the CD player and MP3 player go into the mixer and I run an RCA cable out of the RECORD OUT (For a constant volume) of the mixer into the Rotel amp with a DIN adapter.

Soundman

Good stuff. At least it is working for you now.