Receiver / phone input question

Hi all...I'm considering purchasing a Dolby digital receiver for my system, and I notice that many lack a phono input. Being an older (not old) dude, I have over a thousand albums that I still value. If I buy a receiver without the phono input, can I plug my turntable into an auxiliary input and enjoy my Meet the Beatles lp? Isn't there a difference between phono inputs and other generic inputs? Thanks! Jon

 

Good Afternoon, Jonre:

It depends on the phono deck as to whether it will work or not. If the phono deck as a preamplifier built into its works, you can use the Auxiliary Inputs of the stereo receiver.

However, most phono decks do not have this preamp and the old amps had an additional stage of amplification at the Phono input to boost the signal to a useable level. It is somewhat like plugging a standard microphone into the Auxiliary input. You won't hear much....if anything.

The way I compensated for this problem in my recording studio was to plug the phono deck into a small mixer-amplifier. The mixer output was 1 volt and married up with the Auxiliary input to the main amplfier quite nicely.

Smokey

 

If your turntable has no built in pre-amp,
you must use an external phono pre-amp. A non-phono
(EG a microphone pre-amp) will not have the RIAA
equalisation required for proper playback. Some mixers
have a phono input, but you can get standalone pre-amps.