Audio Visual

Any self-respecting music lover knows that there is far more to experiencing good sound than simply selecting a list of quality tracks from top artists and then pressing play. Indeed, audiophiles have more technical factors to consider before they can enjoy a music-listening or deejaying session. If we think, for example, about how most music fans have something of a passion for vinyl, it is fast realised that these listeners or DJs will need specialist sound equipment. A phono stage, also known as a phono preamp or phono amp, is one such specialist product that amplifies the audio signal received by any vinyl based music system before the sound reaches the speakers.

However, not all phono stages are the same; while any phono amp is capable of amplifying sound, the performance of this essential task can vary from excellent to atrocious. This is because only the best phono stages achieve high levels of precision when they amplify.

When selecting a phono stage, it is therefore best to make precision a foremost concern. Reducing background noise to a minimum should be a matter of particular importance to those looking to transfer their vinyl collection to a digital format. In brief, it should be remembered that the quality of the music input as played on vinyl will be reflected in the eventual digital output. The analogue to digital transfer thus needs to be effected with optimum care and with investment in the best quality products: a better turntable and phono stage setup will ensure that the time spent on digitizing a music collection is not time wasted.

If the word investment inspires fear, you may be worrying in vain, because even some of the audio manufacturing companies that have achieved worldwide acclaim and offer bespoke services charge only a little more than a basic phono stage or phono amp supplier. Altogether, if you care for your ears, and respect your favourite artists and your audience, just remember there may be more to be gained from your music with a reasonable phono preamp than what can be offered by a more basic turntable.

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For the committed audiophile, especially those dedicated to listening to recordings of early 20th century musicians whose recordings may only be available on vinyl, the shiny silver micro CD system in the corner of most modern living-rooms, possibly purchased at an out of town supermarket, is an abomination. Suggesting they listen to CDs on an audio system without phono amp or phono preamp, is like asking Raymond Blanc to subsist on a diet of Pot Noodles. In pursuit of the perfect, most authentic sound, these connoisseurs will spend much time and money on the perfect phono stage while the rest of the world looks on perplexed at their use of a so-called obsolete technology.

Although today only a minority of people under the age of thirty will have bought a record in their time, the ability to record and reproduce sound was so revolutionary that they remained in popular use in one form or another across an entire century from the 1890s right up to the early 1990s.  Once cheap CD players became as affordable as turntables, digital music reproduction became king, but the enthusiasm of those dedicated to ‘real’ music recordings is such that the technology behind and the market for turntables, phono stages and cartridges continues to develop at the top end of the audio system market.

Indeed, many purists continue to use vinyl only, arguing that digital music systems – CDs, and MP3 downloads – give a clinical and processed sound that is inferior to the records of yesteryear. Others may want to continue listening to their record collection without shelling out large amounts of money to purchase duplicates in digital format – and, in any case, many records may simply not be available on CD. The evolution of music storage has also seen an evolution in marketing and corporate strategy, and smaller parties are not economically worth updating. Consequently, vinyl editions of these artists are unique and irreplaceable.

This does not mean that vinyl cannot be combined with state-of-the-art modern sound equipment, though. You can have the best of both worlds, linking your turntable to amplifier and speakers via a phono stage. The job of a phono pre-amp is to amplify the signal from your turntable to make it useful to the main amp; thus a phono amp is an indispensable part of listening to your old LPs on modern equipment, helping to keep the past alive without sanitising it with the vagaries of the new digital technology.

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

http://www.whestaudio.co.uk/

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