2. amps-preamps
  3. 184170-171131

Suggestions for Phono Preamp

I'm interested in a decent phono preamp in the $1,000 area code (plus or minus a few hundred) for my Rega Planar 3 and I have a dynavector 20x2l mc cartridge to work with a tube amp which has both rca and xlr inputs. 

Here's the thing. I really don't like those tiny switches, especially when you have to open the preamp to get to them. Also, I hear that it is best to play around with the gain but how do you do that if changing the settings is a pain in the rear?

There are some preamps with the knobs for settings but they almost always are in the back and, again, that drives me crazy. Why can't the settings be in the front so you can easily access them and make changes/adjustments so you can actually hear differences? 

Anyhow, if anyone has suggestions, I'd much appreciate it.

dz13
chrisoshea
377 posts
 

+1 on the Lounge LCR + Copla combo

+1 on the Sutherland KC Vibe

westcoastaudiophile
301 posts
 

TEAC PE-505

hifi63nc
6 posts
 

Parasound JC3 Jr.  Solid State Phono Stage that is available in your price range and it will hold its value reasonably well if and when you may want to upgrade.  Excellent build quality and designed by recognized industry veteran John Curl.  Flexibility with adjustable settings for both MM/MC cartridges from the rear panel, no internal tickering necessary.  It also has both SE and Balanced outputs and I find it to have a very neutral sound contribution to my system.   Good luck with your search and happy listening.  Teg63nc.

bato1965
15 posts
 

If you do not like switches, gain calculations, impedance matching, second guessing all the settings - and yourself... get current amplification based based phono preamp. However, I doubt $1,000 would be enough. Even used.

bobbydd
97 posts
 

I have an EAT Petit in my second system featuring Joseph Audio Pulsar 2’s.  
 

It’s a quite revealing system.  The little EAT sounds wonderful in this set up.  Plus, all the loading and gain adjustments can be made easily on the fly while listening.  Toggles on top panel fantastic.  Other useful features include  top panel toggles for capacitance as well as rumble filter (which can be useful).

 

Current retail is $1700; seen used near $1K.

More to discover