Helping a kid out


So long story short I got neighbor kid into audio and to appreciate listening to music on something other than a cheap Bluetooth speaker.  He’s pretty young but a good kid, a hard working honest kid.  So far he’s accumulated his old mans Dual turntable that I helped him clean up and installed an Ortofon 2M Blue on it, a nice but older Marantz integrated and a pair of Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2 speakers.  I hooked him up with a pair of Kimber 8TC speaker cables I had retired a while ago (lol, probably making them the most expensive part of his system).  He’s looking to upgrade and I suggested trying out a dedicated phono stage.  I’m assuming his budget is in the $200 range and I told his old man I wouldn’t let him buy something stupid.  I had no idea the sheer volume of phono stages in this price range on the market.  What would you guys and gals suggest?  My knee jerk reaction is Schitt Mani and I read a few good things about a Bellari unit but holy cow the choices are infinite.  Maybe something a little higher end but used?  Extra points if it can be purchased from Amazon but that’s by no means a deal breaker.
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You are wonderful to give your time and effort to the kid. Building something is way better in long run than buying. The sacrifice, time, effort etc. we all been there and remember. He will learn so much. You all said it so well. I did not even know this cool kit was out there, looks fun to build!
For those of you considering a dip of toe into the DIY kit end of the pool, do consider the Amp camp kit as mentioned above. You can also catch a few genius as work by looking up Burning Amp w Nelso Pass and Roger Modjeski presenting…


Too funny, I’m certain there will be a sudden uptick in Bottlehead phono stage sales based off of this thread.  I also had never been exposed to them until recently.
on my radar when i got into half track high speed tape a decade or so ago, built a modified kit to bypass the  SS signal path electronics in my Revox.

They rock to this way.

Let me know how i might be of service.

Jim
Best thread on this forum all year 

A most worthy cause and would be glad to donate a used Pro-Ject Audio – Phono Box DC – MM/MC Phono preamp with line output with orignal packaging and instructions

You're doing the right thing on the Bottlehead route and he'll be happier with the results 

Having both would give him something to compare and start sharpening the critical listneing skills

Send me a PM if you're interested and I'll get the kit in the mail