which budget preamp?

+1 Seakayaker. Although perhaps in not so many words.

I really do recommend the Jolida JD-9. Stop thinking about it and buy one. The JD-9 is a winning balance of price, value, and sonic quality. For more dollars, I prefer the Ray Samuels Nighthawk, but at $795 new it is outside of your target price. The Nighthawk is more transparent and is more neutral. It's so good that you'll likely want to upgrade your turntable, cartridge, line stage or amplifier before you'll run out of runway on the Nighthawk.

If you want me to really simplify it, I'll say this: The JD-9 in its stock form will not be the weak link in a system where the turntable is $800, the cartridge is $400, the amplifier is $1000, and the line stage is $1000. The Nighthawk will not be the weak link in a system at least double that value.

I do not for one moment believe that you are going to be happy long term. You're a prime candidate for the audio nervosa that has affected so many of us. So trust our advice when we say get the JD-9; it will suit your particular affliction very well and save you a bunch of cash and heartache.

I've had a lot of gear grace my system over the past few years, and the Jolida JD-9 is a winner. If you decide to upgrade, the JD-9 is more than capable of being upgraded. If you choose NOS tubes talk to Andy at Vintage Tube Services. If you choose to upgrade capacitors, a local electronics repair shop may be able to help you out. If someone suggests a resistor replacement, I'd probably skip that.

For what it's worth, the so-called experts are wrong that tubes and vinyl are warm. If by warm we mean veiled, rolled off, euphonic, then neither tubes nor vinyl are inherently so.

Vinyl is tonally full and harmonically complete. Highs are smooth, extended and beautiful. As for tubes, the variability of tube gear stretches across the continuum from one end warm, liquid and euphonic to the other end neutral clean and clear. I would submit that the so-called experts are not very expert.

Good luck -- you have my recommendation.

Well, there you go.

I'll add a few more things.

I think what is really being asked is for someone to opine whether they think the Rega is better than the Clear Audio is better than the Jolida is better than the Project, etc.

This is really hard to do, even for a dealer who may have seen a lot of gear. Everyone has their own biases, there's also such a thing as system synergy, and most people haven't heard every piece of gear mentioned.

So, hard to say really.

What one can usually offer in terms of opinion is whether they were happy with something, whether they thought it represented good value for dollar, how it may have compared to some other things that they have indeed listened to, in a very general sort of way.

Nothing beats an audition in your system, with your ears and in your room. And even that is subject to the many, many room changes, system changes, changes in listener preferences over time.

Having heard Rega, Project, VPI and Nottingham gear, I'll say that at the time I preferred my vintage JVC QL-Y66F direct drive turntable, Dynavector cart and Jolida JD-9 phono stage to any vinyl rig (turntable, cart, phono stage) that retailed less than $3000? Maybe it was $4000.

This was about 2-3 years ago, but my favorite turntable at the time was a higher end Nottingham with a Micro Benz cart. The entry level Nottingham didn't do it for me and I thought the lowly (but modified) JVC was better.

Second on the Pro-ject phono box II in MM mode with my Pro-ject Xpression III and Ortofon MC-3 Turbo. I am using an Audio Refinement (YBA) Pre5 + Multi5 and Tekton 6.5t front end. Might be trading in the Pre5 + Multi5 for a Rogue Cronus Magnum very soon. :)

Graham amp SE 2, this is a very good budget phono pre.

I saw a Minimax phone pre today,for $600 and that's starting to get near the best of em.

You could go after a used NAD amp with a phono pre built in....I thought the 3020a had a good phono pre.