![]() I did beta testing and editing work for early-days Audible, and around that time, I started loading up home-ripped MP3 files on a pocket-sized Rio MP3 player (which by then had replaced Audible's proprietary player), using it in place of a portable CD player. Never mind Napsterthe first subscription audio "streaming" service was one you probably wouldn't think of: Audible, the audio book service now owned by Amazon, which started up in 1995. That wasn't streaming exactly, or not in the current sense, because the files needed to be downloaded, stored locally, then either played out of a computer or loaded onto a portable player, but from that point forward it was a steady march to the streaming-dominated present. ![]() But it was already brewing during the late 20th century, with people illegally downloading low-bitrate MP3 files made from CD rips and coming close to killing the recorded-music industry. But you can get the bulk of that versatility amps like Pro-Ject’s Phono Box S2 Ultra ($349), that are a fraction of that sky-high price.The concept of streaming digital music files over distances great (as with internet-streaming services like Spotify, Qobuz, Tidal, etc.) and small (from a home-PC hard drive, NAS, or networked music server) became mainstream only recently. Where the Pro-Ject Phono Box E ($89) requires little more interaction than plugging your wires straight in and only supports Moving Magnet cartridges, the McIntosh MP100 has individual inputs for both cartridge types, with adjustable loading for each. Higher-end phono preamps, according to Randall, are “also capable of accurately amplifying a wider range of cartridges.” In particular, they can more adeptly handle rarer Moving Coil (MC) cartridges, which require much more gain and have different electrical requirements than their more common Moving Magnet brethren. With a more expensive preamp, you’re also paying for versatility. And more expensive preamps bring customization to the table. “The best phono preamplifiers, such as the McIntosh MP100 ($2,000), will precisely amplify and equalize the very small phono signal to duplicate the original recording without adding any noise or distortion,” Randall explains. “They sound flat, lifeless and don’t provide the wonderful warm experience that people covet with vinyl playback.” Owing to cheaper components and less engineering care, less expensive preamps may also introduce noise as they do their job of increasing the signal. “Cheap, poor-performing phono preamps don’t convey the magic of music on vinyl,” says Randall. The cheaper the phono preamp, the less accurate it corrects for the RIAA curve and the worse the record will sound. Pro-Ject But cheaper preamps can lose details and introduce noise. The phono preamp essentially needs to apply the opposite EQ, as well as drastically boosting the signal’s lowest frequencies and attenuating the higher ones. This curve is called the RIAA playback equalization curve. “The actual signal on the record is not flat but follows an agreed-upon equalization curve that allows deep bass and extended high frequencies to be cut into the record groves,” says Randall. A phono preamp also has to also equalize the signal so that the record sounds as true as possible to the original recording. ![]() ![]() Of course, that is not quite as simple as it sounds. The McIntosh MP100 ($2,000) is jam-packed with features, such as switchable inputs for MC and MM cartridges, balanced XLR outputs, and a built-in 24-bit/96kHz DAC so you can digitize your records.īudget or luxe, every phono preamp does the same job: amplification.Įvery phono preamp takes the tiny, weak signal from the phono cartridge and amplifies it so your speakers can play it as a reasonable volume. ![]()
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