There is nothing stopping one for placing the phono amp right behind or below the table/arm/cartridge, with an uninterrupted run of internal arm wire from cartridge tags to RCA plugs going right into the phono amp jacks. That's how I and others do it. If you can get the phono amp close enough to the arm, the wire need be only 1/2 meter long.
built-in phono stages -- good idea?
It seems to me that the best location for a phono stage is at the tone arm wire end -- in the turntable. My thoughts:
This would bring the following benefits to its performance:
Elimination of the sensitive and susceptible phono cable
Reduction of the need for a balanced phono stage
Reduction of noise without the need for balanced design -- half of the battle is won already.
Both are significant advantages, I think. But this puts some limitations on the design of the phono stage:
Needs to be very compact solid state design, probably SMD. Access to loading options and mc/mm switching need to be thought out and accessible from rear or underneath. Again, both doable.
Why don’t we see this more often? Your thoughts?
Herman
This would bring the following benefits to its performance:
Elimination of the sensitive and susceptible phono cable
Reduction of the need for a balanced phono stage
Reduction of noise without the need for balanced design -- half of the battle is won already.
Both are significant advantages, I think. But this puts some limitations on the design of the phono stage:
Needs to be very compact solid state design, probably SMD. Access to loading options and mc/mm switching need to be thought out and accessible from rear or underneath. Again, both doable.
Why don’t we see this more often? Your thoughts?
Herman