Why phono preamp

Basically, if you decide you want to add an external phono preamp to your setup, you still can. And should! The phono preamp is just one component in your hi-fi system and it is nowhere near the most important. Your speakers and turntable both should command a much larger chunk of your hi-fi budget. But even if you have an entry-level hi-fi system, a dedicated phono preamp has the potential to make a dramatic difference.

And why you might consider upgrading. Read the Story. Learn more here. Today's Best Deals. Type keyword s to search. That means that the electrical current that it creates is also not very big. That current is measured in microvolts. The phono pre-amp has to take these microvolts and turn them into the 1. It often gets overlooked, but it is an amazing way of giving your records a higher level of detail, and a tighter bass. Dealing with such low level signals means that dealing with interference and electromagnetic noise are huge problems.

A real representation of a sound wave in vinyl would mean that each track would be 3cm wide and your tonearm would be swinging back and forward like metronome having a seizure. The vinyl surface noise will still dominate. Whether the preamp is internal or a standalone unit, you want to make sure it is capable of delivering the audio quality you are looking for.

With any audio setup, the sound quality of your system will only be as good as the weakest point in your signal chain. Invest in a good preamp to make sure the sound quality stays high after the signal leaves the record player.

A good article to guide The vinyl beginners;and the Pre amp is one major component of the vinyl music system. What if I cannot bypass the internal preamp on my turntable? I just bought a Sony 2. Very nice article. However, I still have a question. I have a Pioneer receiver LX which has the phono input. They work seemingly fine. Can I still benefit from the tubes sound or is this setup completely a no-no with my current components?

If you connect your preamp to the phono stage of your amplifier, the signal is treated twice, thus you might get a distorted sound. Try connecting your preamp to the aux stage of your Pioneer and let us know if this helps.

Thanks so much to all of you who took the time and answer my question and even adding more useful info. My sincere apologies for not getting back. The TT itself has a built-in pre-amp. But I wanted to get a more warm sound from it and I achieved it with the seprate tube amp and along with the order for the amp, I also ordered a pair of tubes that would emphasize that warm sound.

An additional question … what about if your turntable has a built in phono stage and your amplifier also has a phono stage? Does one override the other or is this combination incompatible? So sounding really obtuse…just getting into this I have several questions. One, when I buy a turntable I have to have a receiver between the table and the speakers? Three, can I get a turntable that hooks up to a set of speakers by wire? And also be capable of playing records wirelessly. Thank you for clearing up my confusion in advance.

Or does it matter? I know the turntable does not have built-in pre-amp, but amplifier does. Still the volume is extremely low compared to CD, for example. I tried using an in-line, external pre-amp to boost signal, but it produces a loud hum, if I run it through phono input of amplifier. If I run it through direct line with external pre-amp, the volume is low, again.

I also tried connecting turntable to a different amp with the external pre-amp, which also was not very loud. By process of elimination, I assume the issue is with the turntable, which is only a year old and hardly used at all. Any ideas? I got an audio technica lp60 recently, that is equipped with a preamp and Is not Bluetooth. Great article.

I need to know the appropriate amount of gain for my setup. I have tried the 42db, but has alot of hiss,great sound,but is succeptible to feedback at a lower volume. I am currently on the 30db setting,lowered the hiss and feedback, but have to use more volume on my receiver, which is to be expected. The higher seeing seems to have a little more umph, but with the noted drawbacks. Any suggestions? The hiss is pretty bad at any dB setting but worse at the highest.

Again, agree that the 42 dB sounds the best for low end. Really hoping someone can give some advice on this. Is there anything I can do to reduce the hiss or should I buy a new preamp. With turntable turned off the hiss is there. I lowered mine to 30db preamp gain, used my Dolby offset volume source volume, if you have it in my Anthem MX receiver to pickup just a little bit that i needed, really helped that feedback issue.

Still sounds great! I am looking to buy a Mobile Fidelity Ultra with a mm turntable. Would I need an external pre amp to make this system sound better? Or do I even need one at all?