HiFi 01 : Phonostage

Ah yes ... phonostage ... but what is it?

Nowadays, virtually all hifi amplifiers use line-level electrical connections between components. This works out at about 150mV.

But vinyl record cartridges on a record turntable turn out about 5mV as a maximum and some types less than 1.5mV.

Now my old Sansui AU-317 MkII amp has a phono-stage built in, but if you want to use a turntable with a modern amplifier you will have to get a separate phono-amplifier and run it through the AUX input.

Some newer turntable designs now include a built-in phono-stage and even USB connections. But more about all that later when I tell you more about my hifi adventure in compiling a modest yet fine sounding hifi with bits from my bits-box ... well, almost.

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*See my hifi / media index here.

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