Which Phono Preamp for my System????

If you want to keep the budget down, there are some excellent choices without spending anywhere near $1000 for cartridge and phono pre.

Serious bang for the buck are the following:

DB Systems Phono Pre $165 U.S. (direct order from manufacturer). A review on the MC version of the phono pre is here:

http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/weaver10.htm

Both of the DB Systems phono preamps come without a subsonic filter but you can add a basic subsonic in simply by asking David Hadaway at the time of order for an extra $5 or $10 and I would definitely recommend doing that.

I have both the MM (in a system for my son) and MC versions and they are very good phono preamps for very little money. Not a well known name so resale down the line may not be great. If you're thinking resale, I'd look at the Cambridge 640 or the Project Phonobox SE, although I doubt either one will be better than the DB Systems (one user that I know of prefers the DB to the Lehman Black Cube with upgraded power supply.) I have a basic original Project Phono Box that I am selling for about $60, but frankly, the DB MM stage mops the floor with it.

You can mail order an Audio Technica 120E from Garage-a-Records for $59 or a Shure M97XE if you look on the web for about $69 U.S. Both excellent cartridges-the AT is livelier, more exciting, the Shure is smoother, more laid back. The new AT 440MLA is supposed to be a truly outstanding cartridge around $100 U.S. if you shop carefully.

At the most, in these cases you are looking at $265 U.S. plus a bit of duty and taxes if you are in Canada (as I am) and maybe another $40 or so to have the cartridge professionally installed and aligned. Any of the above cartridges are going to better the Linn K9, which was an AT sourced cheapie with a huge markup courtesy of Linn.

If it's just an experiment to see how much you'll be spinning vinyl that would be a good place to start.

I set up my son with a $5 garage sale Pioneer PL-12D, the AT 120E and the DB MM stage and it is a very adequate performer. Not as refined as my Gyrodec/FT-3/Denon 103R combo, but surprisingly very good and engaging for very little money.

Calgarian,

In my experience, MM cartridges are far less susceptible to age related degradation than MC, so your K9 may be just fine. I'd stick with a solid state phono preamp for now, and stay under $200 used, which would cover most of your list. If you want to buy new, the Cambridge is a steal here:

http://www.spearitsound.com/Cambridge_Audio/Cambridge_Audio_540p.asp

If you taste vinyl and like it, you'll want to replace your whole analog front end to bring it up to the level of the rest of your system - it's very seductive!

If your into vinyl to stay you will eventually get a little better cartridge. I would recommend the Dynavector p75. More $s than your other choices but not crazy money 595 new. You have nicce equipment and might even get a better table. The p75 competes with much more expensive preamps.

Thanks for all your responses.

I've received a couple emails suggesting the Dynavector P75. It is a bit above my price range, but as Rello and Armstrod suggested, if I get hooked on to vinyl, I may very well want to upgrade perhaps to a better cartridge (maybe even a MC cartridge, which the P75 can accomodate) or even a new turntable.

Kurt_tank, do you have any other suggestions if I were to increase my budget a bit?

Also...just thinking ahead here....If I were to get an upgraded cartridge, how good of a cartridge could the Axis accomodate before it would make sense to upgrade the whole turntable? For example, would it be a total mismatch to get something like the Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood cartridge to pair up with the Axis???? Is it overkill for the turntable?

Hdm...I didn't realize the K9 was that horrible a cartridge. I paid around $375 Cdn for it new!

I'm just tossing ideas around. Any further discusssion or input would be greatly appreciated.

calgarian

Calgarian: The K9 was based on a very inexpensive Audio Technica (Linn is only one of a vast number of high end companies that source(d) their cartridges from Audio Technica), in all likelihood the AT95E which still sells today for under $40. It did have a more sophisticated stylus but was ultimately limited by the cheap internals. I'm not saying it was a bad cartridge, only that the AT 120E and 440MLA would, in all probability, be superior and can be had for $59.95 and $99.95 respectively.

Here is some interesting reading at Audioasylum for you.

http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=vinyl&n=524951&highlight=Linn+K9&r=&session=

You may be a little reluctant about the Clearaudio after reading that as well but it's your money!!!