Best budget $100 - 200 Phono Pre-amp?

I was wondering which of the "budget" phono pre-amps is best. I am considering the NAD, Pro-ject, Music Hall, Creek OBM8 or the Goldring. Any ideas?

vlad145604-15-2005 12:55am

aroc Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 760 posts 04-15-2005 at 12:23pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Hagerman Bugle, although it is a DIY 1/2 KIT. About $100-125 for the 9V battery power. About $175 to build one with the 15V AC power supply. You'd think with parts cost alone you'd be ahead off all the commercial <$200 units and probably a lot of the <$500 ones as well. It's supposed to be in "Black Cube" territory from what I've read.
blkadr Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 739 posts 04-15-2005 at 05:48pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Rotel RQ970BX. Positive reviews site surprisingly high quality parts and overachieving sound quality. It does sound better than anyone should expect for $200 retail.
alex_yakovlev Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 102 posts 04-15-2005 at 06:10pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Vlad1456, are you DIYer? $200 buys you all the parts necessary to build EAR834 clone. If you are not, then look into used ones. B&K Phono 10 is not bad.
Post removed Aug 06, 2015
nrenter Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 766 posts 04-16-2005 at 02:46am Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Stay away from the Rotel RQ970BX. This was my first phono stage and I found it to be noisy and lacking of detail. I agree with Viridian - find a used Musical Fidelity X-LPS or X-LP2. I had an X-LPS and, for the money, thought it was great.