Turntable question

[Fancy Pants]

My brother in law recently gave me his old turntable. I hooked it up to my garage stereo yesterday and I can barely hear it. I turned up the volume all the way and it's barely audible. The stereo doesn't have a phono input. I seem to remember that if you used to put hook up your turntable to something other than a phono input you would have problems. Am I right?

Either way, it's an old turntable with attached rca cords. The stereo is a cheap *** Sherwood (I know oxymoron) I just use outside.

 

[TheSheriffIsNEAR]

Yes, you need something with a phono input, or an external phono preamp. Output voltage of a turntable (the cartridge, actually) is around 2-6 millivolts. That has to be amplified to somewhere around 3-7 volts before hitting the line stage of your receiver.

 

[HilltopHorn]

You can get a phono pre-amp at radio shack for around 30 bucks. Make sure you ground the turntable all the way through to your reciever, or you will probably get a background hum.

 

[Fancy Pants]

Thanks, that makes sense.