Are you thinking new or used? Used of course has the advantage of letting you try it out and being able to sell for close to what you paid. Used preamps that I have tried and liked around under $400 cad are the Vincent PHO-8, Musical Fidelity V-LPS and Dynavector P75 MkI. I plan on getting a Dynavector cart so settled on it. One of these days I will get around to listing the others for sale...
But generally speaking, are you looking for MM only or MM/MC? Preferences for tubes or solid state?
But generally speaking, are you looking for MM only or MM/MC? Preferences for tubes or solid state?