You need to make sure you connect the turntable to the Nikko preamp first and not directly to the Studiolive tape input. Phono levels are much diferent than tape/line levels, and require a phono preamp. If you wanted to EQ for some reason, you would hook Technics to Nikko pre to Nikko EQ to Studiolive tape in. This is assuming the Nikko preamp has a phono input.