Connecting amplifiers to a turntable and an audio system should be hassle free, but we are all familiar with that painful moment when we think it is all sorted, but the sound just will not come out of the amp at the required volume.  The reason for this might be that most of today’s amplifiers do not feature an input socket market turntable, so they cannot be connected without a phono preamp.  This is basically an electronic circuit or stage that deals with the correct amplification of the phono cartridge and sends it to the amp or audio system. It is also often referred to as a phono stage or a phono amp, but these all mean the same thing.

Beneath all these technical terms is a simple box that connects between a turntable and an amplifier.  In order to decide which one to purchase and what sort of price to go for, an appreciation of how the phono amp works may be of some use.  When vinyl records were the norm, integrated amplifiers featured an input for the record player or turntable as standard, but this began to cease when analogue sources started to become digital in origin.  As digital sources have similar voltages, a preamp-stage was often no longer needed, as a simple switch that selects between inputs was all that was needed.  For this reason, the ‘passive preamp’ was created, but rather than containing an actual preamp, these boxes just house switches and relays.

For those who need an actual preamp, it is just a matter of obtaining a phono stage, hooking up the turntable to it, and hooking up the output from the preamp to your amplifier.  The sound you will get will be dependent on a few factors, and the prices vary significantly.  A very cheap preamp is usually unlikely to provide you with very good quality audio, but equally, some budget preamps are dressed up as very high quality ones. The best option for novices is to go for a medium priced one, which will at least ensure that you are not severely overcharged for an inferior product.

It is important, therefore, not to be confused by the technicalities.  The phono stage, the phono preamp and the phono amp all have the same function, that of connecting your amp to your turntable.  With this technology in place, you should be able to play all your favourite tunes with perfect sound and absolutely no stress.  As long as all your other equipment works, that is!

Please visit http://www.whestaudio.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.

http://www.whestaudio.co.uk/

4da8261b06084