How to Connect Speakers to Your Turntable

Getting a turntable properly hooked up to speakers trips a lot of people up, mostly because it's not quite as plug and play as other audio sources. The missing piece that catches most newcomers out is the phono stage, and once you understand what it does and why it's needed, the whole setup makes a lot more sense. Let's go through it properly.

 

Why You Can't Just Plug a Turntable Straight Into Speakers

Unlike a phone or a CD player, a turntable's cartridge produces an extremely weak and, importantly, uneven signal. As part of the vinyl mastering process, bass frequencies are reduced and treble frequencies are boosted, a deliberate choice called the RIAA equalisation curve, done so that the groove doesn't need to be impossibly wide to fit bass heavy music, and so that surface noise is less audible.

This means the raw signal coming straight off your stylus isn't just quiet, it's also tonally all wrong, thin sounding and lacking real bass. A phono stage does two essential jobs at once, it boosts that tiny signal up to a usable line level, and it applies the RIAA curve in reverse to restore the correct tonal balance. Without this step, plugging a turntable directly into a normal amp input or powered speaker will get you something painfully quiet and thin sounding, if you get anything usable at all.

 

Built In Versus Separate Phono Stage

You'll generally run into one of two situations depending on your turntable and amp.

Built in phono stage on the turntable. Many turntables, especially ones aimed at newcomers, have a phono stage already built in, often with a switch on the back labelled phono and line. When set to line, the turntable outputs an already corrected, already boosted signal, which means it can be plugged into any regular line level input on an amp, receiver, or even some powered speakers directly.

Built in phono stage on the amp. Some amplifiers and receivers, particularly older or higher end ones, have a dedicated phono input built in. If your amp has one of these, you plug your turntable directly into it, and if your turntable also has a built in phono stage, you'd usually switch that off or set it to phono output to avoid applying the correction twice, which can cause an odd, overly bright sound.

Separate outboard phono stage. If neither your turntable nor your amp has a phono stage built in, you'll need a separate standalone unit that sits in between the two. Your turntable plugs into the phono stage, and the phono stage then plugs into any regular line level input on your amp or receiver.

It's worth checking your gear's manual or spec sheet before assuming either way, since it's a genuinely common mistake to either miss that a phono stage is needed, or accidentally double up on one and wonder why things sound a bit harsh and unnatural.

 

Connecting to a Traditional Amp and Passive Speakers

This is the most common setup for anyone running a proper hi-fi style system.

1. Connect your turntable's RCA cables (red and white) to either the phono input or a line level input on your amp, depending on where your phono stage sits, as covered above
2. If your turntable has a separate ground wire, connect it to the ground terminal on your amp, usually marked with a small screw and a ground symbol, this prevents hum
3. Connect your amp to your passive speakers using proper speaker wire, matching positive to positive and negative to negative on both ends
4. Power everything on, select the correct input on your amp, and you're good to go

 

Connecting to Powered Speakers

Powered, or active, speakers have their own built in amplifier, which changes things slightly.

If your turntable has a built in phono stage, you can usually connect it straight into the powered speakers using RCA cables, since the signal is already boosted and corrected to line level. If your turntable doesn't have a built in phono stage, you'll need a separate outboard phono stage in between the turntable and the powered speakers, since most powered speakers don't include their own phono correction.

Some powered speakers do actually include a built in phono stage themselves, usually clearly marked on the input, so it's worth checking your speaker's spec sheet too, since that can save you buying an extra box you don't actually need.

 

Connecting to a Receiver With Multiple Inputs

This works the same as connecting to a traditional amp, just make sure you're using the input specifically labelled phono if your turntable doesn't have its own built in phono stage, and a regular line level input if it does. Most receivers make this fairly clear, but it's an easy detail to overlook if you're moving quickly through setup.

 

A Few Practical Tips

• If your sound is very quiet and thin, you're most likely missing a phono stage somewhere in the chain, or your turntable's phono and line switch is set incorrectly
• If your sound is unusually harsh, bright, or bass light in a strange way, you may have accidentally applied phono correction twice, check whether both your turntable and your amp have active phono stages at once
• A persistent hum usually points to a missing or poorly connected ground wire, worth checking early if you hear this
• Keep phono cables away from power cables where possible, running them parallel and close together can sometimes introduce hum or noise into such a low level signal

 

Why It's Worth Getting Right

A phono stage isn't an optional extra or an audiophile luxury, it's a genuinely essential part of the signal chain for a turntable. Get it right and the rest of your setup, cartridge alignment, tracking force, azimuth, all of it, actually gets to shine through properly. Get it wrong and even a perfectly set up cartridge on a great turntable is going to sound thin, quiet, or oddly balanced. It's one of those unglamorous bits of the chain that makes an enormous difference once it's sorted.