which budget preamp?

Well, there you go.

I'll add a few more things.

I think what is really being asked is for someone to opine whether they think the Rega is better than the Clear Audio is better than the Jolida is better than the Project, etc.

This is really hard to do, even for a dealer who may have seen a lot of gear. Everyone has their own biases, there's also such a thing as system synergy, and most people haven't heard every piece of gear mentioned.

So, hard to say really.

What one can usually offer in terms of opinion is whether they were happy with something, whether they thought it represented good value for dollar, how it may have compared to some other things that they have indeed listened to, in a very general sort of way.

Nothing beats an audition in your system, with your ears and in your room. And even that is subject to the many, many room changes, system changes, changes in listener preferences over time.

Having heard Rega, Project, VPI and Nottingham gear, I'll say that at the time I preferred my vintage JVC QL-Y66F direct drive turntable, Dynavector cart and Jolida JD-9 phono stage to any vinyl rig (turntable, cart, phono stage) that retailed less than $3000? Maybe it was $4000.

This was about 2-3 years ago, but my favorite turntable at the time was a higher end Nottingham with a Micro Benz cart. The entry level Nottingham didn't do it for me and I thought the lowly (but modified) JVC was better.

Second on the Pro-ject phono box II in MM mode with my Pro-ject Xpression III and Ortofon MC-3 Turbo. I am using an Audio Refinement (YBA) Pre5 + Multi5 and Tekton 6.5t front end. Might be trading in the Pre5 + Multi5 for a Rogue Cronus Magnum very soon. :)

Graham amp SE 2, this is a very good budget phono pre.

I saw a Minimax phone pre today,for $600 and that's starting to get near the best of em.

You could go after a used NAD amp with a phono pre built in....I thought the 3020a had a good phono pre.

That Minimax deal was EXACTLY the kind of thing I had in mind in making my lengthy point about audio budgets. Bet I know who DIDN'T get it. And that's too bad.