[FLCL]

Hi everyone. I have been trying to get into vinyl for a while now and am having a hard time figuring out how to set up everything. It seems like terminology is wishy-washy and everything and depends on who you're talking to. I have purchased a Turntable, a Technics SL-1950 it has a cartridge with it and I plan on replacing it with another. I can understand the tonearm, cartridge and turntable(obviously) aspect. But.
 
I am getting very confused and mildy frustrated with what comes after. The phonostage - is this the pre-amp? or something else? Also, i've seen phonoamp which I'm assuming to be the same as a pre-amp. What does the pre-amp go to? The reciever? then to the speakers? or what.
 
I feel like I'm running in circles. Does it go like this: TT>pre-amp(phonostage????)>receiver>speakers? Please help!!

 

[stang]

Lol I just go Turntable>MAD Ear+ HD(AMP/Preamp)>Headphones/Speakers
 
Rarely use vinyl though, hate all the crackle. And yes, I clean them all thoroughly with a carbon fiber brush. 
 
I am pretty sure I am doing it wrong, but it doesn't bug me. 

 

[Uncle Erik]

Yes, you connect a phonostage to the turntable. The phonostage is a sort of fixed equalizer. You need one because LPs are recorded with an equalization curve. For various technical reasons, part of the signal is attenuated. The Wikipedia article explains it, if you're curious. If you don't have a phono stage, the record will sound shrill and have no bass.

You can buy a phonostage, but some receivers and other devices already have one built in. If a receiver has a specific input for "phono," it probably has it built in. If not, you need a phonostage.

 

[stang]

When I was playing a vinyl there was definitely bass there and the sound coming out from my speakers was quite warm. 

 

[tuoppi]

Quote:

You can buy a phonostage, but some receivers and other devices already have one built in. If a receiver has a specific input for "phono," it probably has it built in. If not, you need a phonostage.

Easy way to determine if the receiver has a phonostage, is to look at the connectors. If there is RCA connectors marked phono (or something that refers to a turntable) WITH a place to put the ground connector coming from the turntable then that receiver has a phonostage. If there is no ground pin then it doesn't have a phonostage.
 
Note that some turntables have built-in phonostages, which you can tell by the output connectors, there will be no ground lead.

 

[nikongod]

Quote:

I am getting very confused and mildy frustrated with what comes after. The phonostage - is this the pre-amp? or something else? Also, i've seen phonoamp which I'm assuming to be the same as a pre-amp. What does the pre-amp go to? The reciever? then to the speakers? or what.
 
I feel like I'm running in circles. Does it go like this: TT>pre-amp(phonostage????)>receiver>speakers? Please help!!

yes, the terminology is a little wishy-washy. Although there are conventions they are not always applied. To complicate matters several stages of the system can be combined into one, and the wording then becomes even less standardized.
 
In the most general sense the chain goes like this:
 
Turntable -> Phono stage -> Preamp -> Power amp -> Speakers.
 
You need these 5 parts (Ok, and random little junk like the cartridge and cables ) to go from record to speakers. 
 
This gets complicated because you can VERY easily combine several of these parts into 1 box. For example it used to be common to combine: the phono stage, preamp, and power amp into 1 unit This is typically called an integrated amp, *BUT* take warning not all integrated amps have phono stages! You could also combine the phono-stage and preamp into 1 unit and leave yourself to do your own thing for the power amp, which was more common in higher-end gear.
 
Headphone amps are another example of integrated amps, although in a slightly different way. Headphone amps essentially combine the preamp and power stages into 1 box so your chain would go like this:
 
TT -> phono stage -> headphone amp -> headphones
 
Many people use the word "reciever" to describe an integrated amp that combines a preamp, power amp, (possibly) a phono stage, and RADIO in 1 box but this is not correct. A receiver simply means a radio receiver, and it can stand alone like a CD player or phono stage requiring you to get your own preamp and power amp.
 
Quote:

When I was playing a vinyl there was definitely bass there and the sound coming out from my speakers was quite warm. 

Its quite possible that your turntable has a phono stage built in.
 
 
REGA TT's dont have built in phono stages but dont have ground leads.

 

[FLCL]

 
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*head spload* lol. OK...so. How do I know the exact model of cartridge? Someone mentioned it looked like a moving magnet AT model. I guess I'm just getting thrown off because if I google "Phono Stage" I get results for "Pre-amps". 
​

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Quote:

Yes, you connect a phonostage to the turntable. The phonostage is a sort of fixed equalizer. You need one because LPs are recorded with an equalization curve. For various technical reasons, part of the signal is attenuated. The Wikipedia article explains it, if you're curious. If you don't have a phono stage, the record will sound shrill and have no bass.

You can buy a phonostage, but some receivers and other devices already have one built in. If a receiver has a specific input for "phono," it probably has it built in. If not, you need a phonostage.

Where does the receiver come into the model(Right before speakers?)? Is that the " Power amp" mentioned? Or is it a generally mis-used term as Nikongod stated:
 
Quote:

Many people use the word "reciever" to describe an integrated amp that combines a preamp, power amp, (possibly) a phono stage, and RADIO in 1 box but this is not correct. A receiver simply means a radio receiver, and it can stand alone like a CD player or phono stage requiring you to get your own preamp and power amp.

 

 

[Uncle Erik]

First, you might want to read through the articles by the Vinyl Anachronist.  He does a great job of explaining how everything works and what you need to set up a turntable.
 
I'm not sure what the exact model of cartridge you have is.  It might be an AT; the best way is to look at the cartridge itself for markings.  It should have something to identify it on its body.
 
Nikongod is correct about receivers.  You have to look at what's included in the total package.  Like he said, a receiver can just be a radio tuner.  However, those are usually called a tuner rather than a receiver.  Most of what's referred to as a receiver has a preamp, amplifier, tuner, and sometimes a phonostage built into one box.  It might seem confusing, but you need to think of each element as a separate component.
 
You have preamps, which include a volume control and the ability to select between different sources.
 
You have amplifiers, which take a signal from a preamp and make it more powerful, so speakers can be driven.
 
You have a tuner, which tunes in AM and/or FM signals.
 
You have a phonostage that provides the RIAA equalization to make records sound as intended.
 
Now, all four of these things are available individually.  I have a separate preamp, phonostage, tuner, and amplifier.  Some manufacturers put all or some of them into a single box.  That single box is usually called a receiver.  You will also find integrated amps, which usually have a preamp and an amp built into one package.  Sometimes the integrated amps have a phonostage, too.
 
When you look at the chain of components, you need to connect speakers to a power amp.  Since a receiver has a power amp built in, you connect the speakers to the speaker taps on the back.  The receiver also has a preamp, so you can connect a source directly to the receiver.
 
If you have separate components, you'd connect the source to the preamp, the preamp to the power amp, and the speakers to the power amp.  Since a receiver has all of those components inside, you can just connect the source to the receiver and the receiver to the speakers.

 

[FLCL]

That clarifies things more. Thanks, I think I'm coming out of the haze as to what is what and what I need now. It is an AT cartridge, I checked and it has an AT logo on the front side of it. In your opinion what is best? To get a receiver or having all individual components?

 

[wuwhere]

If you don't listen to AM/FM, then just get an integrated amp with a phono input.

 

[p a t r i c k]

Quote:

That clarifies things more. Thanks, I think I'm coming out of the haze as to what is what and what I need now. It is an AT cartridge, I checked and it has an AT logo on the front side of it. In your opinion what is best? To get a receiver or having all individual components?

Well a "Receiver" as a term refers most usually to an amplifier which included a tuner (for radio of course), so to keep things simpler we can just stick to what is required to play vinyl
 
As has been discussed you need:
 

• Turntable/cartridge
• Phono Stage - This corrects the cartridge output so it is now like a regular "line" output like that of a CD player.
• Preamplifier - This prepares signal for power amplifier
• Power Amplifier
• Loud Speakers

 
As has been pointed out these are very often integrated. Most commonly integrated is preamplifier and poweramplifier, and the integration of these is what is termed an "integrated amplifier".
 
In the old days integrated amplifiers always included an input for the turntable (an integrated phono stage) but I doubt very much that is the case today.
 
So, you will probably want to buy an integrated amplifier then find out if it has a phono stage. If it does not then you can buy phono stages as separate items very easily.

 

[EarMonkey]

Not to make this more difficult for you but.... You also need to know whether your phono cartridge is a MM (moving magnet) or a Moving Coil (MC). Moving magnets typically have higher output than moving coils. You'll find that some MC's require too much gain for many preamps phono section and many times you'll need a seperate MC preamp inserted prior to the preamps phono section. You also need to look at termination resistance as they differ with most cartridges, but vary wildly between MM and MCs.
 
Setting up a cartridge (unless it's a P mount) is the most demanding and delicate job in all audio. You will need a decent setup system to get even close to the ball park. Without a proper setup you WILL NOT get proper sound from your TT system and could damage your records as well. You'll need to do some reading about cartridge setup prior to your attempt, and you'll need to get a decent cartridge alignment protracor (db systems makes a great one). Just do a search and you'll find all of the info you need.
 
If you know all of this already, please accept my apology in advance. If you have questions that I could help you with, shoot me a PM.
 
Vinyl done right is mind blowing if you have never heard it!!!  
 
 
 

 

[Uncle Erik]

FLCL, when you're starting out, it's easier and much less expensive to find a receiver or integrated amp that does everything you need. Separates will cost you a lot more and you might start drowning in the details of everything. Just get an old receiver/integrated, learn to set up your deck, then start listenimg. You'll pick up the rest as you go along.

One important thing to keep in mind is that your first turntable setup is *never* your final system. I don't care how much money you have to throw at a system or if you've read thousands of equipment reviews a d think you have it all figured out. You will, eventually, start looking at different rigs and probably change course.

The entire point of a first setup is for you to learn how it goes together and how to work it. You want something that is decent and works well. I'd give the starter rig about a year, which is enough time to figure out what you like and don't like, learn about the market, and get a better idea of what you really want. You have no idea right now, but you will once you start spinning vinyl on your first rig. So don't overthink it, spend too much or bog down in endless reviews. Focus on getting a working rig and then, eventually, you'll understand which way to go.

 

[robotkaard]

my tt stanton st 150 have LINE and PHONO
don't have ground connector(Pre Phono is integrated in TT)
i connected LINE  tt in LINE Mixer Yamaha
 
Stanton is The Future(but only if you pay 500 $)
ST 150>>>1210 MK