I need help choosing a budget phono stage gift


An older relative recently had an old technics turntable fixed. He is using a Rega carbon cartridge with an older pioneer integrated amp and its built-in phono stage.

I want to gift him a phono stage to help him hear more music from his system.

For $200, I keep seeing the Ifi Zen, Rega Mini A2D and the ProJect Box S2, but I can’t decide.

Any guidance is appreciated.

saulh

I had an iFi on my short list for a while.
(It was the only one at that price point that seemed like a solid option, but I did not do an exhaustive search.)

  • How would one tell if that the Pioneer already has a decent enough phono stage?
  • And how would one tell if a different cart might be a better use of the $200?

ideally I suppose one might find one that they could demo?

I imagine if I bought on Amazon, I could return it, but I guess it is a bit of a crapshoot. At worst, I suppose I could return to amazon or there is always selling on ebay. 

Or maybe someone, or a dealer in your city, would have one available to try?