preamp help

Don't know JD9/JD9II differences. All use tubes in their circuitry to varying degrees. I believe the Bellari will work with MM or HOMC only and is not adjustable; the Jolida (JD9) is a variable gain MM or MC pre with very flexible loading options.

Both are respected and recommended within the context of what they do and price point.

If you look at Jolida's on-line store, the JD9 MKII isn't listed. I don't think it's been released yet. The original JD9 is significantly better than the Bellari. They aren't even close comparisons.

I hate to be negative, but I've owned lots of budget phono preamps and the Bellari was one of the worst in terms of performance and musical enjoyment. It only has 30 dB of gain which is barely enough to run a 5 mV cartridge. Ideally it needs 7 mV output.

In my opinion, the JD9 is one of the best bangs for the buck for phono stages. This is especially true for $289 direct from Jolida.

What cartridge do you have?

So I have a grado gold cart. Is this why I'm not getting the volume with the bellari? When I run through the bellari I have to turn the volume up to 12 o'clock as opposed to 7 o'clock with my CD player.

Btw I appreciate all info. Positive or negative. I'm just trying to get my levels even.

It's common for cd players to have more output voltage than phono stages. Actually, this is almost always true, which translates into cds being louder at lower volume than your TT. If the voltage from your phono preamp is too low, you'll hear more hiss and noise than you should. With vinyl, it's better to have plenty of gain than not enough.

Your Grado Gold has an output of 5 mV and needs at least 36 dB of phono gain to sound best. I'm using KAB's phono calculator to get this number. The Bellari is less than ideal in your system and is probably introducing quite a bit of noise. If you go with the Jolida JD9, it will grow with you if you upgrade your TT and cartridge. Of course, there are plenty of other phono stages to consider, but the JD9 is excellent for the price.