Preamp recommendation $300: see desired features

Agreed with Sugarbie. I had a Rotel RC972 a while back. Nice pre amp. Any pre amp, by definition, will have a pre out though. I know the 972 doesn't have defeatable tone controls, as it doesn't have tone controls. I think it does have a tape loop. I sold mine about 5 years ago for about 275 dollars.

On the RC972 phono was an optional add-on board, to you would need to ask the seller. And it would be only MM or MC, not both.

Check eBay weekly in addition to AudiogoN. A RC990 or RC995 appears at least monthly, sometimes more. If you can stretch the RC995 is worth the extra money IMHO.

There is also the Cambridge Audio C500. Phono was an optional add-on. I think it does have tone controls with defeat if you do need tone controls. It would be under $200 used. It is actually pretty decent. It is close to neutral, like having no preamp.

The Rotel RC1070 can be had for $300-350 and has a "contour" switch, not tone controls, and is defeatable.It has a nice phono, tape, remote. I don't recall if it has a headphone jack though.

Another option that is worth considering is a Sherwood-Newcastle AVP9080r. It's a 5.1 pre-pro that can be purchased used for $200-300. It has a remote, mm-mc switchable phono, a Tuner, two channel bypass mode, tape, tone controls, headphone jack, in addition to DD5.1, DTS, not to mention 5.1 analog inputs.

I'm using one for 2 channel only in my den/shop, and it's actually pretty good, especially for the money. It's not too bad as a low cost HT Processor either. I can't offer an opinion on the quality of the phono section, except that it doesn't compare favorably with my Musical Fidelity . . . but we're talking a lot of $s

You can get NAD 1600 pre/tuner's with remote for around $200 used. Older model, but I really like the sound of the older NAD stuff. Smooth and sweet, but very little sound stage compared to more expensive equipment. I am listening to mine in my office right now!

Good luck,
Paul

Another reason why I think the RC995 is worth the extra money is that it has a serious phono stage, not just some circuit board to accommodate phono.

The phono circuitry in the RC995 is derived from the stand alone Rotel RHQ-10 phono stage which had an MSRP of $1900.00 back in 1993. The Rotel RH line of products were of a much higher quality than anything they've made before or since. The RC995 is possibly the best non-RH 2 channel stereo preamp Rotel ever sold, although I have not heard the RC1090.