Phono preamp worth it with MM cartridges?

If he has a Rega arm/table...he may need spacers, etc. ...depending on the cart.

As they tiredly say...been there, done that.

Chak, do you really think an MM phono stage needs the option of 30 ohms loading? Or was that a typo, and you may have meant 30K or 30,000 ohms, which does make sense?


Buy the very best MM phono stage you can afford, but don’t assume cost and quality are proportional. If you succeed in reaching that goal, you may never need to “upgrade” if you purchase a LOMC cartridge, because you can add a SUT or pre-preamp for more gain. To get where you want to be is a process of trial and error for each one of us. No one can tell you what you will like. I’d suggest Sim Audio, Herron, Hageman, K&K units with at least 40db gain or any excellent used unit to save money.

A good phono preamp will definitely be worthwhile for MM cartridges as well. The best we've heard in the under $2K price point is the Vertere PHONO-1 MkII.

Thank you - between you you've given me a lot to think about

@lewm  As I said 30-100k Ohm (which is from 30k to 100k). 
When you will look at the manuals for MM cartridges from the past you will see a range of recommended load from 30k to 100k. I'm not gonna say 30k is better, I prefer 100k Ohm nearly for every MM. But when the best MM cartridges were designed the loading range from the manufacturers was 30 000 - 100 000 Ohm.

Today 47k Ohm is standard, but today's MM cartridges are 95% junk.