budget phono preamp choice

[kinderspiele]

i am currently having a creek obh-18 with a separate 24v linear power supply. however, recently it starts to have some background hum or buzz, little bit noisy to me. maybe it is too old, some part gets wrong. thinking of buying a replacement, something around 500$. couple come into my list,

cambridge audio duo/solo,

graham slee gram 2 se,

rega fono mk3

no need to consider mc currently. i am using a project debut carbon with ortofon red 2m. if i can keep using the current 24v LPS, that would be great.

please gives some suggestion. thank you very much.

 

[andreasmaaan]

Here are all the preamps measured by ASR, ranked in order of SINAD (higher better obvs):

ART DJ-Pre II is pretty hard to beat for the price.

FWIW, I have one. Certainly not the weakest link in my vinyl chain

 

[Phorize]

i am currently having a creek obh-18 with a separate 24v linear power supply. however, recently it starts to have some background hum or buzz, little bit noisy to me. maybe it is too old, some part gets wrong. thinking of buying a replacement, couple come into my list,

cambridge audio duo/solo,

graham slee gram 2 se,

rega fono mk3

no need to consider mc currently. i am using a project debut carbon with ortofon red 2m. if i can keep using the current 24v LPS, that would be great.

please gives some suggestion. thank you very much.

Depends what you mean by ‘budget’. In my book the most interesting phono preamp is the parks audio puffin dsp phono amp.
You may want to expand on what you want to help others guide you, especially on price.

 

[kinderspiele]

thank you very much. not a fan on dsp, though don't know much on it.

Depends what you mean by ‘budget’. In my book the most interesting phono preamp is the parks audio puffin dsp phono amp.
You may want to expand on what you want to help others guide you, especially on price.

 

[kinderspiele]

thank you for the recommendation as well as the SINAD ranking. SINAD is a good reference.

Here are all the preamps measured by ASR, ranked in order of SINAD (higher better obvs):

View attachment 97629

ART DJ-Pre II is pretty hard to beat for the price.

FWIW, I have one. Certainly not the weakest link in my vinyl chain

 

[tvrgeek]

Schiit Mani $129 An old first generation Hafler was very good. I thought JDS made one, but I guess not. Phono stages are not really that hard, just mystique. So no reason for insane prices. Google "Phono Preamplifier" and you will find many. I find it amusing people are looking for 100dB SNR when the best brand new never played record is marginally 60. What is more important is if you can set or modify the input impedance to match your cartridge.

So, sped $100 to $150 and send the rest to your local food bank.

Of course, about the most famous one was the JC-1 sold by Mark Levenson. Still available updated by John as a Halo. Not exactly budget though.

 

[kinderspiele]

got you, thanks. then i may just go for schiit.

Schiit Mani $129 An old first generation Hafler was very good. I thought JDS made one, but I guess not. Phono stages are not really that hard, just mystique. So no reason for insane prices. Google "Phono Preamplifier" and you will find many. I find it amusing people are looking for 100dB SNR when the best brand new never played record is marginally 60. What is more important is if you can set or modify the input impedance to match your cartridge.

So, sped $100 to $150 and send the rest to your local food bank.

Of course, about the most famous one was the JC-1 sold by Mark Levenson. Still available updated by John as a Halo. Not exactly budget though.