What do you need for a hi-fi system?

Start with the jobs the system must do

Imagine playing a music file through speakers. Something reads the file, something turns its digital audio into an analog signal, a control sets the listening level, and amplification supplies the electrical output that makes the speakers produce sound. Several of those jobs may happen inside the same device.

The ordered route is the signal chain. Start at the music and follow it to your speakers or headphones.

• Source: supplies the music signal, for example from files, a disc or a record. Identify the playback device and the output you will use.
• Digital-to-analog conversion, when needed: converts digital audio into an analog signal in the playback electronics. Locate the built-in converter or separate DAC on your chosen digital route.
• Phono processing, when needed: prepares a record cartridge’s signal for a line input. Look for a suitable phono stage in the turntable, amplifier or a separate unit.
• Source selection and volume: chooses what plays and sets the signal level for listening. Find the relevant controls in the source, preamp, integrated amplifier or powered system.
• Power or headphone amplification: provides the electrical output for the intended speakers or headphones. Locate the speaker power amplifier or a suitable headphone output.
• Speakers or headphones: turn the electrical signal into sound. These are the final output you want to listen through.

Yamaha’s system overview describes the source, amplifier and speaker roles. Audioengine’s component guide explains the control and power stages. These roles are more useful than a rule that every listener must buy a separate device for each function.

Three complete routes, with different jobs combined

The following are simplified examples, not universal wiring instructions. Arrows show audio signal direction; brackets show functions grouped inside a device or system. Power supplies are separate from these audio paths. Each connection still needs compatible outputs and inputs.

1. Computer and powered speakers

Digital music → [computer: playback → DAC → adjustable analog output] → analog audio cable → [powered speaker system: input/volume → power amplification → drivers]

This is an analog-input example. A driver is the sound-producing part of a speaker. The computer supplies an analog signal and the speaker system contains the speaker power amplification. You still connect electrical power as each device requires; the audio cable does not stand for the mains supply.

Built-in conversion is documented in Apple’s analog-output guidance. A powered pair with analog inputs, volume control and internal amplification is documented in Audioengine’s setup guide. Together they illustrate the functions; compatibility of any particular pair of devices must still be checked.

The connection between two powered-system cabinets varies. The documented example houses amplification in one cabinet and feeds its companion with speaker wire. Do not assume every pair works that way, or that “powered” establishes an active crossover. Active, powered and passive speakers explains that distinction.

2. Source, amplifier stages and passive speakers

[Source with analog line output] → line-level → [control preamp] → line-level → [power amp] → speaker cable → [passive speakers]

“Line-level” describes the analog signal passed between these electronic components. The speaker cable carries the power amplifier’s output. A control preamp handles selection and listening level; a power amp drives the passive speakers.

An integrated amplifier combines the two middle boxes:

[Integrated amplifier: source selection/volume → speaker power amplification]

You therefore do not need a separate control preamp and power amp just because the first drawing shows their jobs individually. Nor does a separate-box arrangement establish better sound. Use the amplifier-role comparison to identify which functions a component actually includes.

This route starts with analog audio. If the source connection instead carries digital audio, locate compatible conversion in the receiving equipment or a separate converter before the analog stages. The input label and manual tell you whether that route is supported.

3. Source and wired headphones

Digital music → [source device: playback → conversion → volume/headphone output] → headphone cable → [wired analog headphones]

A suitable source’s headphone output can already perform the required conversion and drive functions. Apple’s headphone-output documentation provides a concrete example of that integration. It does not establish that every source can drive every headphone adequately.

An external DAC and headphone amplifier are another way to provide those functions when the chosen source or connection requires them. They are not extra stages every headphone listener must purchase. For the decision, see whether your headphones need an amplifier and when an external DAC is needed.

Add the correct record-playback branch

A turntable introduces a specific processing job. Its cartridge signal needs an appropriate phono stage before an ordinary line input. That stage can already be inside the turntable or the amplifier.

Cartridge → suitable phono stage → line-level signal → control and power amplification → speakers

A switchable turntable may supply PHONO with its internal stage bypassed, or LINE after that stage. Audio-Technica’s preamp-selector instructions, page 5, document those two choices. Match the selected route to the receiving input and the cartridge to the phono stage.

A built-in phono stage is not a speaker power amp. A turntable’s LINE output therefore does not, by itself, complete a passive-speaker system. Follow the rest of the chain, and use phono versus line for the detailed distinction.

Find what is missing before adding equipment

Use one of the three routes as a starting point and fill in the actual device responsible for each job:

• Music: which source supplies it, and from which output?
• Processing: where does digital conversion or phono processing happen on that route?
• Control: which control will you use to change the listening level?
• Drive: where is speaker power amplification or headphone drive supplied?
• Connections: does each named output feed an input designed to accept it?

If all the functions and connections are already present, the map does not call for another box. An unanswered row identifies what to investigate; it does not yet prove a purchase is needed. Check what plugs into what, then turn the completed map into a plan for your first system.