Today I brought home a vintage turntable, connected it to my big fancy amplifier, only to hear almost no sound at all when I turned it on. If I set the amplifier volume to 100% the audio I get is about what I would expect if I set it to 10%.
The amplifier works just fine for my TV, connected over HDMI. So I suspect it isn’t any issue with the speakers. Likewise, the quality of the audio I get from the turntable is nice. So I suspect that works fine, it’s just a matter of amplifying what the turntable is producing.
I thought I’d done my research and made good choices, but I worry I might have made a mistake with this setup. I’m hoping someone wiser in the ways of hi-fi can help a noobie out.
Amplifier Sony STR-DH590 Turntable Technics SL-D202
Thank you for any help you can offer. I’m grateful forums like this still exist.
Sorry I am not an expert in hifi home audio, but it looks like line out signal from your TT is not on high enough level to be directly amplified as the Technics does not have integrated preamplifier. So that means you need to buy one separately
These old turntables put out a signal that is at a very very tiny level called phonograph. Often shortened to phono.
You need what is called a “phono preamp”. That’s audio-geek for a device that makes a phono output into a standard line level output.
Many stereo receivers have built in phono preamps. It will often just say “phono” as an input.
They are also available separately and can be had inexpensively. As with many things in audio, there are reasons to pay more once you know what you want, but inexpensive can sound fantastic.
More modern tables are coming with their own integrated phono preamp, so they can provide either a phono or line level output.
