Record player connection (rca with guards)

[Durdy]

Recently got the bug to sample from vinyl again. My belt driven player wasn’t cutting the mustard any more totally slow and slugged out. I bought a direct drive record player from a guy on Craigslist for 75. It’s pretty old but seems in fair condition. One issue seems to be with the rca cables. First off they have a ground wire I’m not sure what to do with, and second they have guards on the white and red rca cables. I think the guards are stopping me from getting a solid connection into my sp 404 sx, because the sound is coming in faint. I’m going from the record player to an sx, from the sx to a mkii, and from the mkii to a preamp with speakers. I’m able to hear it better, by maxing out the input and output gains on both sp’s.Any advice is appreciated. Should I remove the guards? Should I change the heads? Should I connect the ground to one of the screws on the back of the sx?

[Durdy]

Oh and btw the rca isn’t on both ends it seems to be hardwired into the record player

[Girru]

You need a phono preamp. Direct out of an old deck won't be boosted or EQ'd correctly. Google 'phono stage'. You can either get a stand-alone box or a stereo-style hi-fi receiver for added fun. They will also have a screw connection for the earth wire. Does the 'preamp' feeding your speakers have connections listed as 'Phono'?

[Durdy]

Nah just l-r for rca and l-r for quarter inch for inputs. Also some of the perceived poor connection was me having noise gate on too high on the mkii. I’ll look into that. I kinda have it sounding good now it’s kinda like the sx is a pre amp for the mkii. But it could sound better

[Durdy]

But ya I no longer think it’s the style of the rca heads that’s the issue

[Girru]

No, the issue is no phono preamp. Behringer do one for £15.

[Durdy]

https://youtu.be/13XITK8PyQU?si=K1UKW8IIfTCbPakm

I found this video helpful to understand. ^^^

The anmp already in my setup is for the speakers since they’re passive. And I need a preamp in between the record player and the sp/sp’s.

[Durdy]

Thanks mics in trees! I got one on Amazon for 15. Got delivered today makes a world of difference!