As long as we do not own our first turntable, we usually have no idea what it is phono preamplifier. This is the reason why many people are unable to enjoy the perfect sound of vinyl records, constantly wondering if buying a turntable was a bad decision. So if you get the impression that your turntable plays extremely quietly and has no bass, you probably need to improve your knowledge of the preamplifier.
Where to connect a turntable
Nowadays we can point to at least a few possibilities for connecting the turntable, so it is crucial to know on which equipment we intend to listen to music. The simplest option seems to be to connect the turntable to headphones, although we cannot disagree that this is also the most uncommon option. Usually we can find a headphone socket on the front of the equipment. If only this form of listening seems interesting to us, we do not have to think about a preamplifier at all, as this type of connection guarantees its presence.
Although the presence of a USB port in a turntable may raise the blood pressure of many audiophiles, the combination of analog and digital signal is becoming more and more popular among people who use turntables. After all, a device with a USB input can prove invaluable when it comes to converting the large USB collection you have into files. Using a turntable in this form is not complicated. It is necessary, first of all, to have a cable, through which we can connect the equipment and the computer, and then it remains only to install the drivers and enjoy the final effect obtained in this way.
At this point it should be emphasized that if our turntable does not have a preamplifier and we plug it into the wrong connector on our amplifier or receiver, it is almost certain that it will not play properly. The signal that is written in the grooves of the vinyl and the output voltage characteristic for the phono cartridge make it difficult to count not only on bass but even on proper volume. In such a case it is not worth to come to the conclusion that everything is possible to get used to. After all, we will not feel any pleasure from listening and eventually we will burn out the drivers in the speakers.
What about the preamplifier?
In home turntable systems we usually have one of three options. The situation where a phono preamp is built into the turntable comes to the fore, but we can also have an external, separate preamp, or one integrated into the amplifier.
The phono preamplifier itself is in turn an electrical circuit. Its most important task is to amplify signals from the phono cartridge. It also sends those signals directly to peripheral devices such as an amplifier and an amplitude converter. It is also responsible for equalizing the signals, which eliminates unnatural sound.
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