Category: Entertainment Systems

Phono preamp is indispensable for playing records on modern equipment

People collect LPs for a number of reasons. Some music lovers believe that it sounds better than modern music storage systems; the digitisation process can result in music feeling too ‘clean’, whereas the analogue method used by LPs is more ‘real’. Others may have a big record collection left over from the era before tapes, CDs and mp3s came along. Either way, if you want to listen to your record collection – and get best sound quality out of it – then you will want some specialist equipment. A phono stage (also known as a phono preamp or a phono amp) is the missing piece that you can use to hook up a turntable to modern stereo equipment. If you’re a music lover, then you will know that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link; you can’t expect to play good music on a bad stereo set and like the result.

This can bring problems if you’ve spent a lot of money on cutting-edge equipment. Mostly, modern stereo sets are designed to play CDs and mp3s, and sometimes tapes. What they are not designed to do is play vinyl. There may be a plug in the back for you to connect your turntable, but that in itself doesn’t result in a good listening experience. The problem is that the signal that comes off a turntable is much lower than the signal that you get from a CD player.

You can get around this by turning the volume up high, but you will swiftly realise that this doesn’t sound good. As well as amplifying the low-level signal of the music, you will also amplify all the hiss and buzz. The result will be your favourite records, spoiled by static. Old amplifiers, intended to be used with turntables, took this into account. Modern stereos do not – and most won’t have a built-in adaptor, since it’s not economically viable. Why bother, when comparatively few people listen to vinyl any more?

The solution is a phono stage – an extra component that goes in between your turntable and stereo amplifier and speakers. This phono amp boosts the signal from the record deck and makes it usable to the stereo – meaning that you don’t get the crackle that occurs when you turn the volume up high. It is therefore crucial for rehabilitating your old LP collection, and if you have a good stereo then it’s worth investing in a decent phono amp, too.

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

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Phono Stage Can Take The Sound Of Your Vinyl To The Next Stage

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

I first got into records because my Dad had a small collection of old Juke Boxes with classic Rock ‘n’ Roll ‘45s. Watching those amazing machines as they responded to the press of a clunky button – the arm jolting 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 category of Rock ‘n’ Roll, before I also got into blues and soul), but that sound 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 exciting anticipation.

Of course, the phono amp and indeed the entire music world has changed since then, first with tape cassettes: they were considered attractive, compact and neat, at the time, and they had fantastic 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 sophisticated but, again, broke easily. Now we have 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 lost.

Nothing, especially a bunch of formless data in a hard drive, will ever replace my beloved vinyl collection, which has always accompanied me as I grew up. When I got a promotion a few years back, I decided to treat myself to a new sound system, and I picked out a beautiful Mono Channel Reference phono stage that looked fantastic in my lounge, and I rediscovered my vinyl. Listening through the phono preamp was an incredible experience, and I never looked back.

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

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