Z phono or PP 2

Jolida JD-9A. List price $450. Nice big power supply (unlike the wall warts of all the lower cost phono preamps) and tubed buffer stage. Highly configurable for gain, output, capacitance and resistance. Also easy to modify to improve the sound further by upgrading the power cord and putting in better tubes, op amps, and/or capacitors.

I upgraded from a Cambridge 640P about a year ago. I swapped in better tubes, power cord, and Vibrapod isolators. I'm ver happy with the sound--smooth, detailed, linear, no hint of midrange glare, better dynamics.

01-20-12: Mingles
I agree with Johnny. The Jolida JD-9A is a best buy in this price range....

But all this begs the question... what cartridge are you planning to use? Is it high or low output?

All the more reason to recommend the JD-9A. It has low, medium, and high gain settings plus separate standard and higher gain outputs. It also has DIP switches to match capacitance to just about any MM cart you'd have and resistance settings for just about any MC cart. I have little doubt that the big improvement in sound I got with the JD-9A is a combination of its serious power supply and its ability to match just about any cartridge you plug in.

One thing very cool about this phono stage (at this price) is that you can even optimize it for a high output moving coil cart, which is often too low in output for the MM input and too high for the MC input on <$200 wall wart phono stages.