You can independently choose and buy a turntable in the corresponding catalog. Below we will talk about what is important to pay attention to when choosing a device.

A modern complex often has several signal sources

Basically, there are two types of signal sources: analogue and digital. The former include well-known FM tuners, tape recorders and vinyl record players. The composition of such devices most often includes transport — mechanics, pulling the tape or leading the needle along the groove.

Among digital sources, there are also transports — these are CD players. But it is still clear that the future belongs to digital sources that do not have moving parts, like players, media centers or network players. All this is often combined under the term "media players". More details about them below.

A modern stereo complex, usually, contains several different signal sources at once. But the level of each must be at least not lower than the level of all other components!

Analogue source — turntable

Classic modern turntable

Why just a turntable? Yes, because such a product that was most popular in the past, like a tape recorder, is simply disappearing nowadays. There are enthusiasts who still believe that the tape recorder is still indispensable, but their number is minimal. FM tuners are a handy thing for fans of audio advertising, but the quality of on-air signal reception is not enough, so they are rarely found as part of a stereo complex.

But the vinyl record player today is experiencing a real reincarnation. The discs themselves are beginning to be produced again in noticeable runs. When choosing such a device, you should pay attention to several things. First of all, the player requires the presence of a preamplifier-corrector (phono stage) in the audio complex — a special module that amplifies and corrects the signal from the so-called cartridge — the pickup head. This is most often initially provided "on board" amplifier, although you can also purchase a separate preamplifier-corrector (this is an audiophile approach) or a player with a preamplifier-corrector as part (for some reason, this is not very popular).

Turntable pickups come in two types — MM and MC. It is important to make sure that the preamplifier-corrector matches the type of the player's pickup, or is universal (equipped with a special switch between types).

The choice of a player is not an easy task, since all design elements affect the quality of playback in one way or another. True audiophiles often purchase a table, disc, drive, tonearm, cartridge, etc. separately. If you are purchasing a player for the first time, then it is better to immediately worry about the presence of a cover — otherwise keeping clean will become a serious problem. And get ready for the fact that two ways are possible — either the player will be replaced and modernized more than once, or you will actually listen to records very rarely.

12 cm laser disc player

The technology of CD players has been worked out to the maximum. In fact, this is a transport plus a DAC (digital-to-analogue converter) that outputs an analogue signal to an amplifier. It's best to skip all the manufacturer's talk about "optimized circuits", "supermassive chassis", "specially designed transformers", "super stabilized motors" and so on when reading the description of the device. We immediately turn to the technical characteristics, in particular, the signal-to-noise ratio and the coefficient of non-linear distortion. One hundred decibels for the first and hundredths of a percent for the second can serve as a starting point for choosing an apparatus.

When choosing a CD player, you should pay attention to the signal-to-noise ratio and the coefficient of nonlinear distortion

Usually, an inexpensive high-quality drive reads exclusively CDs. Reading more advanced formats, such as SACD or DVD-Audio (the war between which, apparently, will soon end in the defeat of both sides), dramatically increases the cost of the system. A universal drive that doesn't care about everything — from CD to Blu-ray — as practice shows, is not very good for real audio. Although each case may have its own nuances.

You should also pay attention to switching. This is where the principle of minimalism applies. If the player has not only RCA, but also XLR, and in addition also a digital output, and the amplifier has only RCA, then the player is either bought “for growth” or simply redundant. By the way, if you have a choice of switching, you should stop at XLR. As for the "numbers", here you have to try: which DAC will be better — the one on board the player or the one on board the amplifier? There is no universal recommendation.

The future belongs to media players

Media player with Wi-Fi, built-in display and HDD pocket

Whether we like it or not, these devices are the future. In fact, this is a mini-computer assembled on the basis of an inexpensive specialized processor, which either initially has a DAC, or uses an external DAC(actually cool — this is the second option). Even an ordinary laptop, tablet or mobile phone — any computer can act as a media player. But only the headphone output in any of the listed devices gives sound quality that lies beyond good and evil — in this case, you simply cannot do without an external DAC.

Specialized media players are much more convenient. Sometimes they incorporate a DAC of quite acceptable quality, otherwise you can use an external one. Most often, these are Android computers “sharpened” for working with multimedia: they are equipped with a remote control, support wireless keyboards and mice, work with built-in hard drives via SATA, external ones via USB, etc. The trouble is that such the device is difficult to use without a TV connected to it as a display — otherwise the complex is almost impossible to control.

The headphone output on any smartphone, laptop or tablet delivers sound quality beyond good and evil – you simply cannot do without an external DAC

There is an alternative — media players with a small built-in display. From the point of view of audio playback, we are interested in several questions:

  • Are disc images, uncompressed audio files — FLAC, APE, others supported?
  • Does the system work with mobile gadgets, via bluetooth?
  • Does it "fit" into a home computer network?
  • How about support for Internet broadcasting and other Internet services?

All these questions should be asked before purchasing a media player and get a device that is convenient and understandable for a particular owner. On the other hand, “extra” functions (in the case of a media player, for example) most often have little effect on the price, and over time, they may well turn from unclaimed ones into favorite ones — appetite comes with eating!

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