which budget preamp?

Jolida JD-9. New just outside of your price range, used probably just within.

PLEASE SEE my fairly comprehensive answer and suggestions (just completed!) in response to "Phono pre-amp" [from] 'Pmp', also in this grouping of posts. These two inquiries ask essentially the same question, as it happens. I might add, however, that the Jolida JD-9 suggestion looks to be a good one. I recall a review that made a very emphatic point that replacing the stock tubes with much pricier vintage "classic" 12AX7's made a world of difference with this design; so you'd probably have to budget for those, as well. I'd expect that an investment in upgraded coupling caps would be worthwhile [a speculation, since I have not seen the Jolida] -- say, Russian K40Y on the cheap, if suitable values are available (possibly in conjunction with the familiar Orange Drop polypropylenes in another location, just to avoid stacking colorations -- experimenting advised), or Dynamicaps (see Michael Elliot's [Counterpoint's designer] strong endorsement at his Altavista site. There are the familiar Hovlands and Auricaps, and many others, as well. Don't mess with the EQ caps for the RIAA compensation, though; unless you can pull off tight matching of values and tolerances (not trivial), and come into some extra loot. Good luck.

hi and thank you for your input. my problem here really is tube or no tube.
i'd like a new mm stage, but it could include mc as well, for 400 bucks. i've spoken with several "experts" and they all tell me different things. one expert told me he would never go with a tube phono stage as the inherent quality of vinyl already lends itself to warm and cozy so tubes just soften the sound too much. another expert told me that ss will bring the sound closer to that of a cd. neither one appeals to me. i was curious about the jolida but one dealer said they are difficult to acquire and even more difficult to deal with should there be a problem. i like the vincent pho8 because of the big power unit but no one in calgary has ever heard of vincent. i like the tubeboxll because it matches my other tt gear, but have been told totally opposite things about it.
finally i like the rega phono because according to everybody, its awesome.
i want big clean punchy smooth and deep, and just a little more from a system that already sounds great. i told my wife this thing is the last thing i buy for the stereo, so i can't mess it up.

Well, let's see here:

"Expert" #1 gave you a lazy, well-worn, thoroughly discreditable generalization... the kind you hear from the ignorant... or somebody trying to sell you something else. Find a better "expert". And BTW, proper reproduction of vinyl is not [over]warm or "cozy". Cozy is Miss Marple soaking her feet after a long morning picking mint leaves down the lane for her Wild Rose tea. She probably still listens to a Quad 303. But I've heard a LOT of solid state systems that sound a bit like that -- boooring.

If "Expert" #2 thinks vinyl through a good solid state phono preamp sounds like a CD, he's either got one HELL of an amazing CD player... or he's got one crappy vinyl rig. More likely, he's ignorantly repeating tired old sales pitch fodder from very lonely hi-fi salesmen. Find another "expert". And YOU are absolutely right -- you don't want that.

#3 -- The "dealer expert": Jolida as unobtainium? Really?! There seems to be enough people dealing these via order-taking and drop-shipping, let alone people stocking them... You need another "dealer" -- call up Wally at Underwood; see what he says. And if you find just ONE, what do you care who else can find one? Better for you when you want to sell and upgrade, if true... however... And are the Jolida people difficult? Ask Wally. Response Audio has done Jolida mods for some time, so ask Bill, too, about the state of Jolida.

I personally have no "insider" knowledge on the matter, other than dealers I've spoken with who DO handle the line having said to me they choose Jolida because it makes their life EASIER than alternatives, not harder.

If you haven't read it, see my response to 'Pmp' -- the thread, "Phono pre-amp", referenced in my entry above. We have 3 people asking more-or-less the same question here at once. Pick up all the responses.

The Vincent might be a decent choice if you must go solid state -- I have heard two good reports from people I don't really know, but who I have some reason to believe weren't way off base. Not a hearty endorsement, I know, but I have to be honest about the circumstances. The Vincent, I expect, is an op amp design. You can almost always improve such units a lot, at modest cost, with a swap of chips to hi-test units. Many can advise you here. I agree with you that the separate power supply chassis seems promising.

But "no one in Calgary has... heard of Vincent"? Where did you check, Best Buy?! Let's see, Calgary's population is 1,071,515 at last count. I see things are a little slow up there -- sorry -- but man, your experts need to get out and about [a-boot?] more. Call Tom Myers, the U.S., and now Canadian, distributor for the brand (W.S. Distribution) -- I'll bet HE'S heard of Vincent.

The Rega phono preamp will not be "awesome", and not even close. You don't get awesome for this kind of bread -- sorry. But Rega mostly know their stuff, and would be idiots not to give this product their best shot for the bucks involved, given all the phono products they'd like to step you up to. A used Brio integrated amp off Audiogon will give you more-or-less the same thing (plus the rest, of course), and your investment won't depreciate away on you to a disappointing fraction. I believe you'll find that will be the story with low-cost solid state phono preamps: who on this site is going to buy one used? eBay? Good luck. And BTW, note that Rega have REVAMPED THE SS LINE: an opportunity to get an improved product new, perhaps; or a chance to find a last generation Brio or Mira here cheap. Watch this space. One more time, read my other post and digest it carefully. You'll thank me.

I'm happy with the Pro-Ject PhonoBox II with my RPM 1.3. I have no idea if you would like it in your system though.