Phono Stage

A phono stage is a piece of equipment which is required for the amplification of the output from a turntable. A phono stage can be built into either an amplifier or a turntable, or can be a standalone phono stage, as shown by the above photo. A phono stage is required because the output (voltage level) from a turntable is lower than that from other source units (CD players, tuners, tape decks). Due to the popularity of CD players, many amplifiers do not feature a phono stage, these amplifiers are referred to as a line level only amplifier. Therefore, a standalone phono stage is increasing becoming the norm. A phono stage needs to be compatible with the cartridge found upon a turntable, there are two types of cartridge's, MM (moving magnet) and MC (moving coil). Therefore, you will find that most phono stage's are referred to as either a MM Phono Stage, or a MC Phono Stage.