Reasonable preamps with phono stage

I'll second the comments already made on the AI M3. I owned one for several years and it's an outstanding preamp and at the cost of a used unit, a ridiculous value. Your going to have to spend thousands more to get appreciably better.

You may be wondering,if it's such a good preamp, why are there always units for sale? This is because AI has sold thousands of them and with that many in circulation there's always going to be a few for sale.

One caveat, if your going to buy the M3 and not the M3a, make sure it's an M3 that can be upgraded to the 3a if that's something you might be interested in doing in the future. Also, a none upgradable M3 should go for a little less. If the owner unsure, a call or email to AI with the unit's serial number will let you know.

I have a Classe 47.5 with the optional mm/mc phono card installed. New around $2800, used around $1600. Very nice. I demoed or have owned Mcintosh, PSE, Thule, Sonic Frontier, Krell, Bryston, Sim Audio, Plinius and others and preferred the Classe. Classe has a tube like sound from a solid state device.

Between a friend and myself, we've owned 4 difference versions of the Audible Illusions M3 and M3A. I paid from $600.00 for basic M3 up to $1200.00 for M3A/gold card. I bought the cheapest version just for giggles, not expecting it to out perform a SERIOUS preamp ( like one that costs
4 times as much! )I was shocked at how good the basic M3 sounded. I bought the other preamps expecting to be wowed
even further. Except for the phono stage difference of the John Curl gold card, I couldn't hear ANY differnce between
any of the difference versions..............so I suggest
a basic M3 for minimum investment. Has anyone else found this to be true? Joe Novak

An ARC SP9 MKIII is an excellent performer with both line and phono stages. It can be purchased used for about $750.

I second Hermans recommendation for the Conrad Johnson PV10B excellent tubed preamp with tubed phono stage. You simply will do no better for the price. The other suggestors are correct that CD is the medium of choice for most people; so why pay for something you will never use.

I've owned a AI M3 and two M3a's. Clear, detailed, musical, full of authority. And it's fun to experiment with different tubes (tube set is not expensive). AI has been around forever, in audiophile years, and as far as I can tell is still very popular.
Art
ps: you will need to be careful with an M3a in that the steps on the volume control are spaced widely apart. There are internal dip switches to lower the gain in the event the steps are too wide or gain too high.
pps: when you buy an M3a you have to choose whether to get the MM version (all tube) or MC version (tube with ss Curl board). The Curl board has slots to let you easily experiment with different loading. I have found this to be extremely important with MC cartridges. Many medium priced or even expensive external phono stages lack this feature for MC.

Too many people use CD only and do not want to pay extra for a phono stage they'll never use. A used Audible Illusions model 3A would have been a better choice if you do not object to owning a tube pre-amp. Not only is it superior to the MF as a pre-amp, but it comes with an excellent phono stage and a low pass filter. Of course it retails for $2295 to $2495 depending on vintage, which is why I suggest used. You can expect to pay $1100 to $1500 and they are built to last a lifetime.

Conrad Johnson PV10B, about $1500 new I believe. Can be had for < $1000. The A version even less.

I think you have it backwards. It's not that everyone wants separate phono stages, it's that people without turntables don't want to pay for a preamp that includes one. And there are many, many audiophiles who just use digital. Poor souls.