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Newbie advice sought Amplifiers for turntables
In , on 01/04/04
at 03:13 AM, (Stu) said:
OK, i have just bought a turntable from ebay (the first one I've ever
owned). I want to know what amplifiers I need to get it going. Do I
need a control and a power amplifier or a pre-amplifier - basically
I'm a bit confused.
Except for the very latest units, most receivers, integrated
amplifiers, and preamplifiers accept Magnetic cartridges. In general,
if the unit has a PHONO input, you can plug the turntable directly into
the unit.
The turntable's "cartridge" is what actually plays the record. There
are three general types of cartridge:
(1): "Crystal" or "Ceramic" these were designed to be used on very
inexpensive systems and cannot be plugged into PHONO.
(2): "Moving Magnet", usually called "Magnetic", sometimes called "MM".
These are the mainstream of quality systems. These are the cartridges
that PHONO inputs are designed to use.
(3): "Moving Coil", sometimes called "MC". These are premium cartridges
and are usually used only on more expensive systems. Moving Coil
cartridges don't usually work well when plugged into a standard PHONO
input. Compared to Magnetic cartridges, Moving Coil cartridges provide
a very small signal. Extra amplification is needed to deal with a
Moving Coil cartridge. Some PHONO inputs have a switch that will insert
the extra amplification, some require that an external "Head Amp" be
added.
If needed, you can purchase a small, usually low quality, external
"Phono Preamp" for $15.00 to $35.00. A Phono Preamp will allow you to
connect a Magnetic cartridge to any input except PHONO. Starting at
about $100.00 (and up), you can buy quality units that may also deal
with MC cartridges.
---
It has been my experience that one cannot expect that the "stylus" (the
part of the cartridge that touches the record -- we hate it when you
call it a "needle") on a used turntable to be in good condition. They
are usually worn out, missing, or damaged in shipment. The previous
owner is probably not being dishonest, but is not able to evaluate the
condition of a stylus that has been sitting in the corner, forgotten
for many years.
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