Phono stages have one of the hardest jobs to do in hi-fi. They have to amplify the tiny signal put out by the cartridge by as much as a thousand times, while adding a minimum of noise and distortion in the process. In comparison, the task faced by pre and power amplifiers seems easy.

The built-in phono stage has become something of a rare beast in amplification. Such circuits aren’t always great even when included, so if the current vinyl revival has perked your interest, we think you should consider Arcam’s rPhono.