tube phono stage under $1k?

I own the Wright WPP100C. It is one of the component that I have no desire to upgrade. Give it better tubes, and forget about it. IMHO, it is a very good, under-price, performer that is built to last and to disappear in a vinyl set up. In my system, after dialing in what tubes to use, it gives me goose bumps hearing my vinyl collection. Of course, the table (Teres 255) set up plays a big part of it but if your phono preamp is not up for the task, then you can never realized how good your table is.
It seldom appears here as "used" but you will never know. So good luck if you decided to go for it.

On the other hand, if you have time and can do a DIY, check the Hagerman Cornet (http://www.hagtech.com/cornet.html). My brother have one and it is very good too. His, have upgraded caps and resistors, took about a week to finish. At Audiocircle.com, Hagerman Tech has a forum and a website where numerous users can provide you with info once you decided to have upgraded parts instead of the stock.
The Cornet can be bought fully assembled (by contacting Jim Hagerman directly) or as a half kit ($95) wherein you will get the circuit board(pcb), a manual which list the vendors which you can out source the chassis, tubes, xformer, and other components required.

For those who built the Cornet, it is seldom that you will find two that are alike. But, it seems that owners have nothing but praises about them. But of course, you have to be realistic what to expect.

good luck..

I would suggest that you may get better sound overall by looking for an integrated amp with a phono stage, thereby not having to run your analog thru the receiver at all. You would run the receiver's L/R pre-outs into the IA as an auxiliary input for HT applications.

I'd also recommend the Wright WPP100C. I have it, and it's a great unit. Definitely better in some ways than the one internal to the BAT Vk-30 preamp I have (which in itself is not a bad phono stage). The Wright is dead quiet, adjustable gain, very nicely made for the price, and has a cool copper chassis. As a bonus, the tubes are fairly cheap too. I've seen and heard the Hagerman and that's a nice piece too, Jim H. is a cool guy to deal with too.

-Ed

I agree with Inscrutable; why buy this expensive of a phono stage to use with a receiver (this does not compute, at least to me)? I'd put the $$ towards a nice used integrated, like a Plinius, & get one with a built in phono stage. A Creek (5350SE I believe) is another idea, as would be a Bryston B-60. At least if you add a better phono stage later, the amp quality will be high enough to enable you to hear the results. As far as tube phono stages tho, a used ARC PH-3 is one idea in your price range.

I have one word and only one word for you and this is the ONLY word you need to know (in my humble opinion) - Quicksilver Audio Phono Stage Preamplifier or Moving Coil Transformer ;)