You should look no further than Conrad-Johnson. They have excellent build quality, a very fine phono pre and the line is a wire with gain. They make one in your price range and sometimes they can be found used.
Rollin
Rollin
Looking for the best Preamp with a phono circuit built in
Another vote for the Croft Micro 25...very nice pre/phono but MM only phono. If you have MC, a step up transformer from Bob's Devices would complete the system. https://www.bobsdevices.com/ |