If you have been swept up in the vinyl craze recently, but you aren't keen on a full separates hi-fi system, then you might have bought a compact vinyl system that bundles in various features into as few boxes as possible.
This is especially true if you have gone for the more affordable or mid-price section of the market for your starter turntable system.
For instance, you might have a turntable with a phono stage built in (and even with Bluetooth), such as the Sony PS-LX310BT, the Pro-Ject T1 Evo BT or the Audio-Technica AT-LP5X.
Alternatively, you might have forgone a stereo amplifier completely and opted for a purist budget turntable, (such as the Pro-Ject Primary E or Rega Planar 1), plugged into a pair of active speakers that have a phono stage within – such as the Elac Debut ConneX DCB41, Klipsch The Fives, or Triangle AIO Twin. It makes for a neat and tidy system, without multiple boxes or cables trailing around.
In either of these cases, you might want to consider offloading the phono stage duties to an amplifier or an external unit. While convenient, the phono stage built into active speakers or even turntables isn't usually of the greatest audio quality. It's always a compromise.
And considering the phono stage is the most crucial aspect of a record player (it amplifies the turntable's output and adds standardised equalisation to the signal so you can hear the vinyl record in an audible and tonally even form), it pays to pay a bit more attention to this part of your system.
The good news is, you don't need to throw out your existing turntable or even change your active speakers at all. This affordable external phono stage from Cambridge Audio might be just the ticket to give your vinyl system a fresh lease of life.
The Cambridge Audio Duo phono stage is a stylish little unit that's about the size of a paperback book, and delivers a smooth, detailed, full-bodied and dynamic sound. It will offer a fantastic sonic upgrade over either the phono preamp built into your active speakers or budget turntable.
Its minimal design is discreet and compact enough to fit in most small spaces – even on a desktop or sideboard – and it looks far nicer than any of the sedate-looking black boxes we normally see, such as the budget (yet great-sounding) Rega Fono Mini A2D Mk2.
The Duo has a couple of extra features to highlight it above its rivals.
Firstly, it can handle both moving magnet (MM) and moving coil (MC) cartridges. If your turntable is on the affordable side, it likely came fitted with a moving magnet cartridge – you can easily upgrade this to a step-up MM model.
But even better, having the Duo means you can widen that scope to MC models – these tend to be pricier, but also offer greater refinement. It's nice to have the option for the future, at least.
But the biggest reason why I recommend the Duo MM/MC is that it also has a headphone amplifier built in. This is fairly unusual with phono stages, but it means you can plug a good pair of wired headphones in and listen to your vinyl records in peace, at night, or without disturbing the rest of your household.
And going wired is easily a far better-sounding option than using Bluetooth. I don't always find the Bluetooth option on Bluetooth turntables to be that convenient: trying to pair the deck with wireless headphones can be hit and miss, and you also miss out on what's special about the analogue vinyl format when compressing its sound quality over Bluetooth.
The Cambridge Audio Duo's full-size 6.3mm headphone socket means you can easily plug in a pair of great wired headphones – such as the Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X, the Sennheiser HD 505, the Grado SR325x or the Austrian Audio Hi-X20 – and enjoy your records with their quality largely intact.
You do get a punchier, precise and detailed sound from our current Award-winning Rega Fono MM Mk5 phono stage at this level, but it doesn't have any of the extra features that make the Cambridge Duo so enticing.
So if your turntable / active speaker set up has a phono stage built in and you want to give your vinyl set up a sonic boost – this sleek little Cambridge unit will give you that upgrade without needing to completely overhaul your current system.
We originally tested the Duo at £250 back in 2022, but its price has risen and remained at £299 in the past couple of years. It is, however, enjoying a flash sale right now that sees its price go down to £249 at Richer Sounds, Amazon and Cambridge Audio.
This deal will very likely end tomorrow as Amazon Prime Day ends on 11th July, so you'd better hurry if you want to nab this great vinyl accessory with a handy £50 discount.
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