In those thrilling days of yesteryear, nearly all receivers and preamps included a built in phono stage. But since the increase of digital sources and the decrease of interest in vinyl playback, more manufacturers have eliminated the phono stage. Newer receivers, whether stereo or multi-channel are still called receivers but once the phono stage is dropped from a preamp, it is now common to refer to it as a line stage.
The phono stage performs two basic functions - additional gain (may be high for MC cartridges or low for MM or HOMC; some phono stages provide both, selectable by different inputs or a switch and single pair [L & R] of inputs) and inverse RIAA to compensate for the EQ utilized when the record was mastered. Any outboard phono stage as others suggested will do this.
The phono stage performs two basic functions - additional gain (may be high for MC cartridges or low for MM or HOMC; some phono stages provide both, selectable by different inputs or a switch and single pair [L & R] of inputs) and inverse RIAA to compensate for the EQ utilized when the record was mastered. Any outboard phono stage as others suggested will do this.