I’m a newbie entering the world of home theater & a/v set up. I’m on a budget (trying to stay around that $500 figure, or so…) and am going to build piece by piece. Most receivers I’m interested in have one problem – a lack of a phone input. (This seems to come only on higher end models.) Is there a way to safely and properly hook up a record play to a receiver if it doesn’t have a specific input? What kind of pre-amp unit would I need? Are there grounding issues? I welcome any advice…I may be off in the wrong direction and maybe I should invest more in a receiver?

Welcome any thoughts…