Parts of a Stereo System – Receiver, Speakers and Turntable

All 16 parts on the diagram

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The system 6

Speakers Two boxes, left and right, that turn the signal into sound.
Receiver It picks a source, amplifies it and feeds the speakers.
Turntable It plays vinyl records.
CD player It plays compact discs.
Cassette deck It plays and records cassette tapes.
Subwoofer A speaker in its own box for the lowest notes.

The receiver, front and back 10

Volume control The large knob that sets how loud the sound is.
Input selector A knob or keys that choose which source plays.
Display A window that shows the source, the station or the volume.
Tone controls Two controls, bass and treble, for low and high sounds.
Phones jack The socket for a pair of headphones.
Phono input A pair of sockets for a turntable.
Ground terminal (GND) A screw post for the turntable's ground wire. It is marked GND.
Antenna terminals Where the radio antennas connect.
Speaker outputs The terminals that the speaker cables connect to.
Speaker cable A pair of wires from the receiver to one speaker.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-10-01, a name kept only where two independent sources use it. Three makers' owner's manuals for stereo receivers, read in the Internet Archive's copies, each maker counted as one source (https://archive.org/details/manualsonline-id-3b769295-9c98-4455-906b-7d4123f20e53 and https://archive.org/details/manualsonline-id-4e8b5b9f-975a-42f3-be97-90167476e8d3, one maker; https://archive.org/details/manualsonline-id-1cfa1cff-3ca0-4ed2-90ad-8389f1aa3dee; https://archive.org/details/manualsonline-id-1ef65e28-0c01-4850-a7b1-4be593c5be5f); Wikipedia, Home audio (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_audio), High fidelity (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fidelity) and AV receiver (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AV_receiver), one source. This page is not connected with or endorsed by any maker. Hints and detail lines are in our own words. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-01 from plain geometry; a schematic of no maker's product, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

The parts of a stereo system are the sources that play music, a receiver that amplifies it and speakers that turn it into sound. The second drawing shows the front and back of the receiver.

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The system

The turntable, the CD player and the cassette deck are sources: each plays a recording. The receiver chooses one source, amplifies its signal and sends it to the speakers, one at the left and one at the right. A subwoofer adds the lowest notes.

The receiver, front and back

On the front, the input selector picks the source, the volume control sets the loudness and the tone controls adjust bass and treble. Headphones plug into the phones jack. On the back, a turntable connects to the phono input and its ground wire to the ground terminal. Speaker cables run from the speaker outputs.

Questions and answers

What is the difference between a receiver and an amplifier?

A receiver is an amplifier with a radio tuner built in. Both take the signal from a source such as a CD player and make it strong enough to drive the speakers.

What is the phono input for?

It is the pair of sockets for a turntable. Beside it is a ground terminal, marked GND, for the turntable's ground wire.

What does a subwoofer do?

It is a speaker in its own box that plays only the lowest bass notes. The main speakers play the rest.

What are the knobs on a stereo receiver?

Usually a large volume control, an input selector that chooses the source, and tone controls for bass and treble.