Answered

Help! Upgrade to Phono + AMP from Phono + Connect + stereo receiver

  • 24 March 2023
  • 5 replies
  • 77 views
T
Badge

Hi all, 

I am sure this is a dumb question but I hope you can help. I’m a legacy Sonos customer with an old connect hooked up to a vintage Sony stereo receiver and technics turntable.

i want to move to a Sonos amp for a 4.1 surround setup and maintain my old turntable as part of that.

what do I do about my preamp situation if I have an old receiver? Can my old receiver act as a preamp or is that a dumb idea? Or should I just buy a dedicated pre amp and sell the receiver? Or something else?

After some research I’m not that concerned about losing the analog sound by eliminating the receiver (it also has a tape out if I wanted to maintain that), but I’m not sure what best practice is for moving from a modest analog Phono set up to a sonos amp phono set up.
 

I can’t find a lot online about keeping an old receiver as a preamp with the AMP, which tells me that it may not be the best approach. But I don’t understand why?

help!!

Edit: I should maybe add that I don’t care much about streaming turntable through the house, but I do want the surround features of the Sonos amp and be able to stream music through my passive speakers.

 

 

 

 

 

icon

Best answer by jgatie 24 March 2023, 01:12

View original
This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

5 replies

jgatie

The preamp you need is a phono preamp.  They can be built into the turntable or external, and they are used to convert a phono signal to line-in.  Your receiver can do that if it has a phono in and analog out, but that's a pretty bulky preamp which uses a lot of power.  They are usually quite small and use no electricity.

T
Badge

Hi @jgatie , thank you for responding. 

I’m I right to assume that, at my level of audiophile-ness (or lack thereof) there isn’t really much to worry about with analog to digital conversion from TT to the AMP with preamp rather than TT to Sony receiver to speakers. I don’t plan on ever streaming records through the house, I only listen to those locally on my couch.  I had originally bought the Connect w/out AMP and receiver because I believed at the time (perhaps foolishly) that I should keep my TT fully analog and only use the Connect to stream to the speakers when I wanted full house Apple Music. 

The only other reason i’d be tempted in keeping the receiver is for having AM/FM radio to stream blacked out local baseball games. But, you are right, that that is a big piece of kit and I would benefit from a more minimal AMP. 

Anyway, thanks for your assistance.

Edit: @jgatie I just read some of your other posts and see that your position on the loss of analog on digital conversion is “utter nonsense”, so no need to reply. LOL. Thanks for your prodigious contributions to the forum.

jgatie

Audiophiles will tell you there is a difference, but there’s not.  Science says that an ADC which samples at 48kHz (like the Sonos Line-In ADC) will perfectly reproduce any frequencies which are half the sample rate.  Since nobody on Earth can hear anything above ~20 kHz, you can be sure what goes in will sound the exactly same as what comes out.   

T
Badge

Hi @jgatie, 

Sorry, one more question. Can you recommend a decent starter phono preamp that also has a headphone out? I’ve seen you say elsewhere that you don’t need to spend much on a preamp, but a preamp with headphone out looks pretty niche.

I’ve been looking at: 

GOgroove Phono Preamp Pro Preamplifier with RCA Input/Output, DIN C

and 

Turntable Labs - PH01 - Phono Preamp + Headphone Amp

 

However, it looks like this kind of product is pretty niche with mixed reviews on quality at my price range. Maybe it is better to just get a regular preamp and add a headphone amp later if I really think i need it. 

Thanks!

Stanley_4
Userlevel 7
Badge +22

I can’t recommend anything as my last turntable was given away years ago but this is a good place to educate yourself on potential purchases. I also buy from them and have been very satisfied.

Crutchfield phono preamps:

https://www.crutchfield.com/shopsearch/phono_preamp.html

Terms & ConditionsCookie settings