Best phono preamp under $250

I have no idea if it's the "best"(such a subjective word)but the ProJect Phono Box II should work quite nicely.

I recently acquired a Pro-ject Phono Box S for a secondary system. I installed it in my main system first to see how it would play with my Pro-ject RM5.1 SE/Sumiko Blue Point No. 2. I was blown away by how it performed compared to the phono stage built into my Parasound 2 channel preamp. Neddless to say the Phono Box S is now a permanent addition to my main system.

At $200, this little box allows for full cartridge loading of gain/capacitance/impedence so you can dial in your cartridge, either MC/MM, exactly for your system. In my case I gained much lower noise, better gain, and a wider and deeper soundstage. I should have bought one years ago, its that good and its under your stated budget.

Thanks for the recommendation. You're right, "best" probably isn't the 'best' choice of words since it's just a matter of personal preference. I'm just looking to find the best bang for my buck, basically something that has a good enough rep to stand its ground and not be a weak link in my system to where I'll just have to upgrade 2 years down the road. If I need to save a little longer and up my price to $300-ish range that's fine too!

All suggestions are welcome!! Thanks in advance!

For reference, I'll be hooking it up to these items:

Pro-ject Debut Carbon (and Denon DP-31L) --->Phono preamp?--->AES AE-3 tube pre---> McIntosh 2125 amp---> Klipsch RP-5 towers (selling these in the near future to replace with PSB Imagine T2's or some used Revels)

Project phono box, nad pp2, belari, creek.

I quite liked the Musical Fidelity V-LPS.

Soundsmith also has quite affordable MM phono stages that are well thought of, but I haven't heard these myself.

Thanks all for the suggestions. Is the project phono box SE II worth the price difference over the standard phono box II?

I use a Cambridge 640p with a Pangea P100 power supply and it sounds great. The newer model that replaced it might be better. Plus, it has a rumble filter that I like. Inexpensive, seems to be built very well.

I agree with Wolf Garcia on the Cambridge Audio. Very good phono stage for the money..

The Cambridge 640 did it for me. Way better than the 540. You really have to jump up in price to see more of a difference.

I feel better about my 640P now...I just went over and patted it on the top and said, "good boy."

The Vista Audio phono stage is pretty darn good in this price range. I'd make sure to consider that one.

Used Jolida JD9.