phono pre amp giant killer?


I'm in the market for a used phono pre amp. I'm considering the pro-ject tube box II and the clear audio nano (because of some positive reviews and the fact that I use a Clear audio Vertuoso Wood Cartridge). My question is how much do you need to spend on a used phono pre amp in order to get to the level of truly top flight performance? My budget was going to be 350 but that may change with this thread.

thanks
andy
andyth
If you want your Seduction to have better WAF, well... These things take practice...

In all seriousness, have you thought about building a different chassis? You could design/oder something from frontpanelexpress.com and do a lit of different things (jack field in back, better knobs, OPT under the chassis. My bet is the Bottlehead gear lends itself very well to rebuilding/re-chassisying.
Andyth,
I will second the rec for the GCPH. I've used it for three years and it will do whatever you need it to quite well. Mine has had the Cullen mods and they really improve the performance. Ridiculous bargain IMHO. Currently, I'm considering several units as upgrades but they all cost much more. Will my Cullen modded GCPH be up for sale this year? Not sure I can part with it but stay tuned.

Tbone, I'm looking for a step or two up in performance over the seduction as well as waf. I love the seduction, but I am ready to upgrade and I'm thinking minimax or cornet.
I've never had or heard a Cornet. I've owned the MM but long before the Seduction. I'd say quality is quite close to par between the two. MM uses 12AX7s which tend to have a bit more tone than the 6922 family, which some prefer as 'faster'. The MM has step-ups which is a big boon if you're going LOMC but a waste if you're not.

Both units are dead silent, extended, with correct tone & timbre. It would take a side-by-side to say more.

And, yes, people do all kinds of creative things with Bottlehead chassis; the sky's the limit.
Thanks to all for the posting. I decided to go with the Seduction with the c4s upgrade. Any Tube rolling advice for this setup?

Thank again
Andy