Lowend Preamp on a budget.

GEorgelofi,

Good stuff, as usual!

b&k has been my my go-to for inexpensive preamps--i've owned at various times the cs117, pt5, ref30 and pro10. i find 'em less colored and more transparent that adcom/rotel/nad and better built as well. can be had really cheap. per georgelofi, if your system allows a passive can be very cost-efficient--i liked the luminous audio axiom.

I say get an Emotiva USP-1 and call it day. It can be found for under $300 used. It is a quality built preamp with a very good phono stage. Emotiva customer support is very good too.

06-09-14: Mapman
GEorgelofi,

Good stuff, as usual!

Thanks Mapman.
But me think's it may'th fallen on deaf ears.

Cheers George

Maybe it's the former Audio salesman in me, but when I see a thread like this, I want to know much more about all the other gear the original poster has, the room it's going to be in, what types of music he/she listens to, how loud, and what type of interconnects he/she is using and what are their objecives, and whether they prefer tubes or solid state and do they want new or used. Having that information would be a lot more useful to recommend a preamp that would best fit your needs. Please advise, thanks