Best budget phono preamp?


Title kind of speaks for itself. SS stongly preferred. Needs to be able to handle either a MM or high output MC. Something that would work well with an AR ES1.
tonyptony
I was hoping to stay below or around $500. I read the Bellari review. It sounds nice but may be a little warm. The ES1 is characteristically sort of a closed sounding table, and I'm not sure how something that's being decsribed primarily as "warm" might work with it.
There is a little known small box phono pre with user adjustable gain from Australia called Redgum superb very musical presentation. A little more than the Bellari and SS, but friends of mine are generally stunned by its quality -for a little box pre. You can find them here at an Agon dealer Quest for Sound. No it doesn't compare to a Supratek but it's really very good for the money. See if you can audition one. No I have no affiliation financial or otherwise with either Redgum or the Dealer. I just stumbled into it.
The Channel Island Audio VPP-1 is a nice little pre that is in your budget range.