Path of signal from turn table to speaker

Right. Its all analog. There is no digital at any point. The signal in the record groove is analog, but it is equalized with bass way down and treble way up in what is called RIAA equalization. Its also very low level (volume). You can play a record back without a phono stage but it will not be very loud and it will sound tinny with no bass. The phono stage amplifies this weak signal and equalizes it to sound right. Its one of the most essential and difficult things to do in all of audio because the signal is so weak and involves so much EQ. 

The phono stage is all analog. But it can be all tube, part tube and part solid state, or all solid state. It can be a separate component or it can be a card or circuit built into a pre-amp or integrated amp. There's a lot of different ways to do it, and that may be where some of the confusion is coming from. 

One amp or phono stage differs from another tremendously. Because of the tremendous gain and EQ its one of the widest ranges of sound you will find and makes a huge improvement when you get it right.

There are turntables with inbuilt ADCs and a USB output but these are generally not taken seriously. There are also phono pre amps that digitise, I think Linn have one and Devialet do this too, the wisdom of doing so is debatable.
Most modern recordings are though digital and converted to analog for pressing to LP. It remains a source of puzzlement that such an LP played back on a good turntable through analog amplification can beat the digital file of the same recording, both played on similarly priced but carefully setup equipment. 

Hi all, if you could humor a fledgling "audiophile" still learning... can anyone specify how a signal get from a turntable to the speakers? My understanding is that pure analog circuits are for many reasons not common. This means that the signal must first be converted by an ADC (analog to dig convertor). This signal then travels through the amp circuitry and eventually reaches a DAC which then outputs to the speaker. Is this decently accurate?

What a nightmare, please awake.

I know that amps all differ in there capabilities but the basic formula does not change. Analog signal to digital and then back to analog.

If you’re living in a digital world please try to understand the digital wasn’t there when your parents or grandparents enjoyed vinyl, reel to reel to cassettes. How about those amps? Ever heard about tube amps? :)

First digital device appeared on the market in 1982 and it was a CD player.

First class-T (or class D) digital amp invented in 1996, read here. Those class-d are the cheapest amps available today, mostly from China. This is only ONE specific kind of an amp which you can call a digital amp.

The rest of the amps (except for hybrid amps) are 100% analog, not digital.

When purchasing an amp for records... should i basically just purchase for that amps capabilities and nothing else from the input standpoint?

An amp for record is a phono preamp (aka phono stage) with RIAA correction. The rest of the Hi-Fi amps are for line level signal, so you can connect everything direct, except for the MIC.

Now we have many different amps on the market: tube amps, solid state amps, hybrid amps, chip amps aka class-t ...

If you want to enjoy vinyl stay analog (100%), signal picked up by the phono cartridge is analog signal, you don't have to convert it to digital at all. All you need is to reproduce 100% analog signal using a cartridge, tonearm, turntable, phono stage, amp, speakers. They are all analog devices.  

What kind of ''signal'' is coming from TT? Without cartridge there
will be no signal at all. Then different kinds of cartridges have
diffrent ''signal''. Connecting MC cart to an MM input will not
produce ''desired signal''. As mentioned so often : ''it depends...
Inventing questions is differetn kind of  thinking than answering
questions. 

Thanks to everyone for the answers. It has helped me clear of things up. I mistyped in my post as well. I have the rega TT- rega phono- CXA81 then speakers. Reading all your responses I realize my question has been more about the last path through the amp. I thought that last part would necessitate processing through the amps DAC as the final step before stereo output. If not then it would seem any amp should do decently through this circuit assuming power needs are met. Other sites i have read have always suggested the amp is not a "silent" partner and will greatly alter the final signal.