Yep, if you wanna play LP's you'll need a phono preamp. It takes the very low level output from the phono cartridge in a turntable and converts it more or less according to something called the RIAA (record industry association of america) curve to produce a relatively flat signal of suffcient level so your power amp can amplify it. And there are two kinds of phono cartridges, moving magnet and moving coil. So be sure your phono preamp is compatible with whatever cartridge you choose to use.
