Why is the trend to make separate phono stage


Why is the trend to make a separate phono stage. Say a high end pre-amp such as Audio Research Reference 2 you need to spend $ 10,000 for a line stage and another $ 7,000 for the reference phono stage. Almost every manufacturer has started to separate the two components. Is this to make more money selling two boxes or has technology gotten so sophisticated that it needs to be separate or lastly maybe only 25 % or less of the buyers want phono, so the manufacturer focuses on the 75 % population that need a line pre-amp. For us oldies it used to be easy to add a MC/MM board to the pre-amp to add the phone section. What happened??
dcaudio

Showing 2 responses by sbank

Answered your own question...
"maybe only 25 % or less of the buyers want phono, so the manufacturer focuses on the 75 % population that need a line pre-amp"..
Some companies will mod a preamp to add a phono board. However, most purist companies will take the stance that a separate chassis, power supply, etc. will make it sound better.
Cheers, Spencer
The "25% thing" was a quote from the original post, not an assertion by me. I doubt Dcaudio did a study on it, nor would I expect him to. I certainly did not.
Nonetheless, IMHO, most folks aren't willing to pay for a phono section they won't use, and most manufacturers in their judgement think it makes sense not to include with most of their offerings.
Not that I necessarily agree, but that's another thread...
Cheers, Spencer