I would say $50.00 - $300.00 range."Best" is highly subjective. I'd start with what your budget is and you should get some actionable suggestions with that. Stand-alone phono preamps can be had for well under $100 and well into the four figures, so there's a lot to choose from. Once you state your budget, you'll get plenty of input on how to spend that and even more money
I've tried the Lounge, the Schiit and the ART. Believe it or not, I like the ART the best, and it's the cheapest. Has some lovely 3D air that shouldn't exist on something that cheap. But it does.
All three pale in comparison to the pre-section on my Yamaha CA-2010, same vintage as that C-1.
P.S. -- I've seen two Pro-Ject pres that died prematurely. FYI.
Why not build a one of the best with much less cost http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/in...igh-end-phono-stage-no-expense-spared.371889/
When did i do that? I already have 2.............you thinking AVFan maybe?The DB Systems DB-8 and DB-8HG are excellent. https://www.dbsystemsaudio.com/budget.html
I still regret letting @marcmorin guilt trip me into selling my DB-1 preamp.