AV RECEIVER…
The great thing about an AV receiver (or AV amplifier) is that it has lots of inputs for all manner of audio and video devices. Connecting a turntable is not a problem – in fact, many AV receivers have a built-in phono stage, which allows you to plug in any standard turntable directly. For example, all of Denon’s 2018 AV receivers, from the AVR upwards, have a built-in phono stage – simply connect your new deck to the ‘phono’ input and you’re sorted.
However, the phono stage of an AV receiver will often fall short of the performance of an external phono stage or one built into a turntable. It’s worth taking this into account if you’re serious about sound quality.
(If you do decide to add a turntable with a built-in phono stage or use an external phono stage, you need to avoid the phono input on your receiver and use one of the line-level pairs of RCA inputs).
In terms of recommendations, let’s look at our Awardwinning AV receivers. For the Denon AVR-X3500H (tested at £899 but now available for less than £600), we’d recommend the Rega Planar 1 Plus (£329); Rega’s entry-level turntable in integrated phono stage form. The Denon AVC-X6500H (around £2000) is capable of making the most of a higher-end turntable – we’d suggest the Rega Planar 3 with the Elys 2 cartridge (£649). You could connect this to the amp’s phono input, but you’ll get more out of the set-up by adding a dedicated phono stage – Rega’s own Fono MM MK3 (£199) is a strong choice.
Our current home cinema amplifier of the year, the Sony STR-DN1080, doesn’t have a phono stage, but as we’ve ignored those of the Denons, that’s no barrier to vinyl enjoyment. Here, we’d suggest the Sony PS-HX500 (£279), which is an aesthetic match, sounds great, has an integrated phono stage and will even let you rip your vinyl to hi-res digital files via USB.