Do I Need an Amplifier for My Turntable?

A turntable needs two completely different kinds of amplification, and almost every version of this question is about only one of them.

Stage one is the phono stage. A cartridge puts out a few thousandths of a volt and needs about a thousandfold boost plus RIAA equalization to become a normal line-level signal. That question has its own page and a thirty-second answer.

Stage two is power amplification. A line-level signal is nowhere near enough to move a loudspeaker cone. Something has to deliver watts. This page is about stage two.

The one-sentence answer

You need a power amplifier unless your speakers already contain one, and if you own passive speakers there is no configuration in which you do not.

Everything below is about which box that amplifier lives in, and there are more options than most people realize.

The four routes, and what each one needs

The two-box route is the one people are usually hoping exists, and it does. The Kanto YU6 publishes an RCA input with a phono switch, so a turntable connects directly with nothing in between. The Klipsch The Fives II publishes a dedicated analog input with a built-in phono stage and does the same.

The trap is assuming any powered speaker does this. Audioengine states outright that “all turntables require a phono preamp stage before connecting to Audioengine speakers”. Kanto’s ORA publishes line-level inputs only. Edifier does not state either way for the R1280T, which means assume not and check before buying.

How much power, actually

Less than most people buy, and the figure depends far more on the speaker than on the amplifier.

Why “my turntable has a built-in preamp, so why no sound?”

Because the built-in preamp is stage one. It makes the signal line level. It does not make it loud enough to move a speaker cone, and it never claimed to.

A turntable with a switchable phono stage — the AT-LP120XUSB publishes a switchable PHONO/LINE output at 36 dB nominal gain — can plug into any line input. It still needs something on the other end of that line input with watts in it.

The exception is a turntable with Bluetooth, which sends the signal to a speaker that has its own amplifier. The AT-LP60XBT and Sony PS-LX310BT both do this, and it is why they exist. Every wired route is laid out here.

Three symptoms, and which stage each one points at

Most people arrive at this question through a symptom rather than a schematic, and the symptom tells you which of the two stages is missing.

The first row is the common one, and the reason it sounds thin as well as quiet is RIAA equalization: the record is cut with bass reduced and treble boosted, and a phono stage reverses that. Play a cartridge into a line input and you hear the record as it was cut, which is thin and quiet at once. That combination is the diagnostic.

What about a receiver you already own

An AV receiver already contains power amplification, so if there is one in the house the second question is answered. Whether it answers the first depends on the model, and the split is sharp.

Of the receivers we cover, the Denon AVR-X1800H, Denon AVR-S670H, Yamaha RX-V6A, Onkyo TX-NR6100 and Marantz Cinema 70s all publish a moving-magnet phono input. The Denon AVR-S570BT, Yamaha RX-V385 and Yamaha RX-V4A do not — Yamaha lists it as N/A for the RX-V4A, and neither Denon nor Yamaha lists one for the two entry models.

If yours is in the second group, a separate phono stage in front of any line input finishes the job, and the sub-$200 options are competent. If it is in the first group, plug the turntable into PHONO, connect the ground wire to the ground screw, and you are done.

What to buy, by what you already own

You own passive speakers.An integrated amplifier, and the phono question decides which one. The Yamaha A-S301 publishes a moving-magnet input at 3.0 mV / 47 kΩ and 60 W into 8 Ω, and it is our first pick in the under-$500 bracket.

You own nothing yet and want the fewest boxes. Powered speakers with a published phono input — the Kanto YU6 is the clearest example. Two boxes, one cable.

You want streaming as well.The WiiM Amp publishes 60 W into 8 Ω and 120 W into 4 Ω with streaming built in, but publishes no phono input — so a turntable needs a separate phono stage in front of it. Note also that WiiM publishes the wattage with no THD figure and no both-channels-driven condition, so it cannot be compared like for like to the Yamaha’s 60 W.

What you do not need

A separate power amplifier and preamplifier. Not at this stage. Splitting them is a real technique with real reasons, and none of those reasons applies to a first turntable system.

More watts than the arithmetic calls for. Sixty watts reaches 94 dB on one of the less sensitive speakers we cover. Doubling that buys three decibels. Three decibels of extra speaker sensitivity buys the same thing for nothing.