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£50ish Phono Pre Amp

P

PinkFushy

Member
Hello, i recently bought myself a REGA Planar 3 with RB300 and tommorow im going out to buy a Nagaoka MP 110 cartridge but i still do not have a pre amp.
I only have about £50 left to spend so im thinking about a Art DJ II Pre amp....
I heard some good things about it and im wondering if anyone has any other ideas or should i just go for the ART DJ?
 
Secondhand CA 640P, use it, enjoy it, save your sheckles for an Arkless upgrade to turn it into a worldbeater.
 
Could you find a NAD PP1 is it?

Or a little Behringer PP400 there.

Or a Cambridge Audio 540

DS
 
Project Phonobox is pretty good. I used one with a Project Debut III for a while. Detailed, dynamic sound. £75 new but you could pick up a secondhand one for £50.

Damian
 
At a pinch, if money is tight have a look (and a listen to) the Audio Technica AT-PEQ3.

Its cheap but surprisingly well made for the money.

This or the entry level Project box, both seem very good value for money.

LPSpinner:
 
One thing to bear in mind is that the 640p does not have a gain control but the ART DJ II does. Oh and its only £38.64 inc VAT.

Cheers,

DV
 
I guess it all centres on the OP's future intentions.... If he just wants to be up and running as cheap as possible and has no intention of upgrading his front end in the future then one of the cheap and cheerful £40 boxes would do the trick.
If however he may upgrade his cartridge in the future and may want to use a moving coil cartridge then the second hand 640P makes sense. I would have thought a second hand 640P should be available for £50 ish still.

The option is then there to have it upgraded by myself for £160 in the future and he then has a phono stage that has been favourably compared to ones in the £650 - £1000 + range ;)
 
Jez - I can not find one for the less than £70-£80 currently and given the original price I am loath to pay that given I already have one . However in view of your current turnaround timings I am also loath to be without mine for such a period .

So I set you a challenge , find me one for £50ish and will have upgraded immediately;)
 
paul auster said:
Jez - I can not find one for the less than £70-£80 currently and given the original price I am loath to pay that given I already have one . However in view of your current turnaround timings I am also loath to be without mine for such a period .

So I set you a challenge , find me one for £50ish and will have upgraded immediately;)
Click to expand...

Were they not only about £70 brand new!? It's only £119 for a brand new 651P! I must be driving up demand :D

Turnaround times are coming down now but I doubt I will ever be able to actually guarantee a set turnaround time due to the very nature of being a one man band who does other work besides phono stage mods and indeed other work besides hifi. Lots of stuff for guitarists in bands, PA systems and then industrial work. If I had the luxury of knowing there was always going to be maybe 5 - 6+ 640P/651P's coming in every week then I could concentrate on just those and no doubt then guarantee a less than 2 week turnaround no bother!
 
Others you could check out are the Creek OBH-8,the Nad PP1 or PP2 amps, the Rotel RQ970 or the more basic Pro-ject offering, all of which tend to be quite cheap.

I did put together a bit of an article on good phono amps around a £100, but it does mention quite a few that fall below that and near £50. So, probably still worth a look.
 
Guys, thanks for the recommendations but in the end i went for the Art DJ.
Im not going to be upgrading in the future and i dont want to invest too much in the turntable. If i can get a cheap 640p in the future il buy it but whatever has been selling on ebay has not been cheap. I read some people like the Art DJ over the 640p anyway and at only £38 that seems fantastic for the money.
 
Hi warzinak,
Please post your thoughts on the art dj as I too am after a cheap phono stage until I can find a naim stageline
Thanks laurence
 
well im not sure if im the best to ask because i have only heard this one, but it sounds great and for £38 its a bargain....search the web for peoples opinions on the Art DJ and youl see people are very happy with it compared to other amps higher in the price range. I would say if your on a budget or looking for a temp then its a no brainer.
 
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