Phono pre new, used, kit best bang for the buck?

[nj pheonix]

OK very broad title . (i'd even consider DYI if its not major fabrication) Let's try and stay under 300.00. If it nudges slightly over i'll listen. What do you think?

 

[sled108]

Well, that is a Broad Brush that you Paint With...Many around here will say that the Art DJ Pro is the Way to Go in the $50 Range...Other than That, the Sky is the Limit. There are Many Others to Choose from in the under $300 Range. And, if you can DIY there are a Bunch More...

 

[sachu888]

You can try these,
CNC MM Phonostage
AD797 HQMC Phonostage for LOMC

Each can be built under $70 and comparable withany high priced Phonostages.You will find many good reviews on those threads,very simple to build too.

Regards,
Sachin

 

[WntrMute2]

RJM Audio VSPS and/or Phonoclone 3.
http://phonoclone.com/pcb.htmlp
Great build for about $200 including the power supply you need to build. Great support on DIY audio forum.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/analogue-source/57398-phonoclone-vsps-pcb-help-desk.html

I also built the above AD797 stage of HypnoToad. Both work great!

 

[mhardy6647]

http://www.hagtech.com/bugle2.html
or
http://www.hagtech.com/bugle.html
(I can vouch for the latter, so I infer the high value of the former!)

 

[Pio1980]

Plug-and play; TC-755, next up ART DJ-Pro II.
If you can 'do' DIY, the two prior-mentioned A-K projects, CNC for RIAA MM/MI and the AD797 for LOMC.

 

[nj pheonix]

I was looking at those. Apparently he's on vacation until the end of the month. I was going to give him a call. Thanks

 

[gusten]

From the ones I have heard, without a doubt ART DJ Pre II. It´s well built, sounds very good, and at a price that is impossible. There are much better of course, but then at a completely different price level. All in my humble opinion.
gusten

 

[GPJeff]

The ART Phono Plus v2 has USB output for easy vinyl to digital transfers.

 

[Cactus Bob]

How does the ART DJ Pre II compare to vintage preamps like Yamaha C70 / C80, Sansui 9090db's and such?

 

[livestrong]

I found a gently used Clearaudio Nano Phono awhile back for close to $300 - don't let the size fool you, it is an amazing phono pre!

 

[nj pheonix]

keep em coming guys. i'm still in play here.thanks

 

[seminole54]

Vista Phono-1 Mk II, infinitely adjustable for gain and resistance, but make sure you have him change the capacitance loading from the standard 150pf to 50pf. I own two of them and run them currently with a LOMC and a Grado 8MZ MI.

http://vista-audio.com/products/phono-1mkII/index.htm

 

[dosmalo]

I've seen the "base" model Parks Audio Budgie on eBay for $399 + ship. That's pretty close to "a nudge over."
I'm sorta lusting in my heart for one.....

 

[gadget73]

I've heard good things about this, but have no direct experience:

http://sound.westhost.com/project06.htm

And a suggestion from out of left field, a Garrard MRM. The pop suppressor kind of sucks, but as a phono stage it sounds quite fine.

 

[Batty]

Hagerman Bugle 2 kit $135 or built $185 inc delivery worldwide.

 

[savemenow]

The ART Phono Plus v2 has USB output for easy vinyl to digital transfers.

This is my choice once I have enough reward points on my Visa to make it FREE! :huge:

 

[BrocLuno]

I've done some research and written a paper on the subject. PM me and I'll send it along. We have had some semi-serious testing of phono stages here: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=522082&page=15 starting at Post 213. You may want to read through the whole thing, but it gets better organized after Post 213 ...

The bang for the buck comes in flavors. For those with fixed arms who do not swap cartridges, the choices are a bit wider. For those with swap-able headshells who do cartridge swapping, the options need to include more loading selections.

The baseline seems to to be the ART DJ Pre. It has been used with a SUT and Moving Coils (MC) up to the $500~$1K range. And a slew of Moving Magnets (MM) up to the $700 range. It's not perfect, but works well for some. Sort of equal to the ART, but different are the TCC 750/760 models.

In terms of SQ improvements, the next tier up is the Ray Samual's Nighthawk, Project SE, Cambridge Audio 640 (with mods), the DIY's mentioned and the Rod Elliot ESP P06/05.

Then we seem to jump up to the Phonomena. From there the sky is the limit and so is the budget. A modd'd Jolida JD9, an Opera Conscience, a Budgie and like, turn in stunning results but take some time to get right (mods or tube rolling). These are well above your budget, but there are sonic benefits that I have heard. I now have a Phonomena because I have heard it for myself, and I own and have used a fair bit of the list I have mentioned so far.

My used record collection and my TT's & cartridge library all seem to have plateaued at the Phonomena level. Others have gone well past me

 

[TJLitt]

I, too, strongly favor the Phonomena, and might be(as Broc suggests for himself) plateaued at that level, at least for the forseeable future. We had a shootout at a local AK get-together and the Phonomena held up quite well. However, the clear winner in that shootout was a DIY Pass Pearl variation, that had just a little extra 'something' in all respects(timbre, detail, range) that made it stand out. As I say, I am VERY happy with the Phonomena, and you can get the earlier versions(say, 5-6 year old) gently used for fairly cheap prices. In my meager system, the Phonomena absolutely trashed a Bugle for MM cartridges, and offers so many loading options that one can use and optimize pretty much any cartridge.

 

[jmchrislip]

Try finding a used NAD PP-2 or a Kenwood C1 preamplifier. Great quality, affordable price.