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Phono Preamp vs Preamp for a Turntable

Hello Forum Members,

Long time lurcher first time poster, maybe you can help!

I received an older mid '70's turntable for my birthday, a Pioneer PL-15 II. It's beautiful and I can't wait to play some rich LP's out of it. As a first time turntable owner, I figured I could just hook it up to my newer (are the 90's newer? Or just less old?) Marantz SR-7000 receiver which doesn't have a phono jack.

A quick test and five seconds of google has alerted me to my next component hunt, a Phono Preamp, or a receiver with a phono jack. In a perfect world, I'll eventually step up to a vintage receiver, but I don't have the room for one at this time. So, I have been looking at phono preamps, but also stumbled across some Adcom pre-amps (like the GTP 400 and 500), both of which have a phono input. My question is, will these multi-purpose preamps do the trick and be of similar quality to a single purpose Phono Preamp?

Thanks very much for any insight.

KB
karlrborne
elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
Pre CD preamps usually had a phono stage built in. Post CD they pretty much died off.
Any post CD receiver with phono is only going to have a cheap one chip phono stage.

So if you don't buy an old quality receiver, get the phono stage.
It will be better than any current receiver phono.

Agree youcan use a couple hundred buck phono. buy iit used here.. Save a few bucks.
buconero117
2,311 posts
 
Stick to a used Parasound. Once you have lived with vinyl for a while, and enjoy the hassle, then think of moving up.
apbiii
39 posts
 
Just remember that the phono stage is the most important part of the amplification process as it provides the most gain. This is especially true if you use a low output moving coil cartridge.

My advise would be to buy the best used stand alone phono preamp you can afford and run that into your current preamp aux input. If you feel the need later you can upgrade that part without changing the whole preamp.
lewm
6,770 posts
 
Seems to me that the most cost-effective approach is to stick with the Marantz receiver and purchase a stand-alone phono stage to go with it. There are many excellent choices at prices well below $500, probably as low as $200 or less, if you admit the possibility of a used component. To the OP: your receiver many not have an input labeled "phono", but it probably does have inputs labeled "AUX". These are so-called high level inputs which can accept the output of an inexpensive phono stage. You do not need to buy a full-function preamp or a new receiver in order to enjoy vinyl.
karlrborne OP
8 posts
 
Thanks again to all. I went with a Parasound on the Audiogon classified sections (so far so good, I think he'll ship it this week), and dropped the player off at a Audio Lab in Cambridge for a once over.

My brother, the reason I got into music in the first place bought me a 180 gram Coltrane LP as a test, can't wait. Your advice is a truly appreciated, I'm sure I'll be back for more at some point.

KB
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