Category: Entertainment Systems

As a die-hard Record lover, I can safely say that finding the right phono stage is absolutely key to getting the best from your collection. A good phono preamp will take the sound to the next stage, and leave you feeling like you’re hearing your records for the first time. I know this because my life-long love affair with Vinyl underwent a turning point, if you’ll pardon the expression, when I first bought a truly good phono amp.

I first got into records because my Dad had a small collection of old Juke Boxes with classic Rock ‘n’ Roll ‘45s. Looking at Staring at those beautiful machines as they responded to the press of a clunky button – the arm jumping into action and lowering the needle perfectly onto the record – was one of my favourite things in the world. I loved it almost as much as I loved the sound. Not the sound of the music itself (though of course I loved that too, and I became a huge fan of Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Elvis, and the whole genre of Rock ‘n’ Roll, before I also got into blues and soul), but that noise the needle makes when it first rests on the vinyl, and up until the point when the music starts. To me it was, and still is, the sound of blissful anticipation.

Of course, the phono amp and also the whole music world has changed since then, first with tape cassettes: they were considered attractive, compact and neat, at the time, and they had brilliant recording possibilities, but on the downside they were also easily breakable and often frustrating when it came to fast forwarding or re-winding; then CDs, which were technologically impressive but, again, broke easily. Now there are MP3s, which, suffice it to say, I’m not a fan of. For the sake of a digital format that is compatible with computers and laptops, a lot of quality has been compromised.

Nothing, not least a load of formless data in a hard drive, will ever substitute my beloved vinyl collection, which has always accompanied me as I grew up. When I earned a promotion a few years back, I decided to treat myself to a new sound system, and I chose a beautiful Mono Channel Reference phono stage that looked great in my lounge, and I rediscovered my vinyl. Listening through the phono preamp was an incredible experience, and I never looked back.

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If the following situation sounds familiar, it may well be that you are in dire need of a phono stage.  Your speaker system is all set up and ready to go, your amplifiers are connected, but nothing seems to be happening.  Those speakers were not made for silence – why is the sound failing to come through?  The reason may be linked to the fact that most modern amplifiers do not have an input socket marked turntable, so they cannot be connected unless you have a phono preamp.  This is essentially 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 called a phono stage or a phono amp, but these words all refer to the same thing.

It is important not to let all these different terms confuse you – this is merely a box that connects a turntable and an amplifier.  However, if this kind of sound technology is all rather new, it can be difficult to choose which one to buy.  In order to make this choice, it is worth gaining some understanding of how the phono amp works.  It is all related to changes in technology, as when vinyl records were commonplace, integrated amplifiers always had an input for the record player or turntable.  However, when analogue sources started to become digital in origin, this no longer seemed necessary.  As digital sources have similar voltages, all that was needed a simple switch that selects between inputs.  For this reason, the ‘passive preamp’ was created.  This isn’t actually a preamp, rather, these boxes contain switches and relays.  The phono amp therefore ensures that you achieve the optimum level of amplification.

Obtaining and setting up the preamp is remarkably stress free, even for those who are not particularly technologically savvy.  Setting up the system is just a matter of obtaining a phono-stage, wiring up the turntable to it, and hooking up the output from the preamp to your amplifier.  As prices can vary widely, it can be difficult to decide which one to go for, but it is important to be aware that the quality of your sound will to an extent be dependent on the phono amp you decide on.  An extremely cheap preamp is fairly unlikely to provide you with excellent quality audio, but equally, some budget preamps are dressed up as very expensive ones.  It is generally safest to opt for a mid-priced 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.  Having found an amplifier that works, your music system should be ready to go. After this point, whether you are a part time DJ or just planning a party, you should find that all your records sound better than ever before with the right kind of amp to channel the beats.

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