But if my receiver or amp has an input that says "Phono" as well as a knob that says "Phono output" or something like that, is it safe to say that it has a built in phono stage?
Perhaps a dumb question...
What exactly does a phono preamp do? Remove noise? Clear up dynamics? What is the purpose? I've noticed even my school's relatively cheap listening rooms uses a very basic phono preamp, I'm just interested in what exactly the effect of it is that makes it worth spending money?