Best phono preamp under $250

I agree with Wolf Garcia on the Cambridge Audio. Very good phono stage for the money..

The Cambridge 640 did it for me. Way better than the 540. You really have to jump up in price to see more of a difference.

I recently acquired a Pro-ject Phono Box S for a secondary system. I installed it in my main system first to see how it would play with my Pro-ject RM5.1 SE/Sumiko Blue Point No. 2. I was blown away by how it performed compared to the phono stage built into my Parasound 2 channel preamp. Neddless to say the Phono Box S is now a permanent addition to my main system.

At $200, this little box allows for full cartridge loading of gain/capacitance/impedence so you can dial in your cartridge, either MC/MM, exactly for your system. In my case I gained much lower noise, better gain, and a wider and deeper soundstage. I should have bought one years ago, its that good and its under your stated budget.

I feel better about my 640P now...I just went over and patted it on the top and said, "good boy."

I have owned lots of them.

The ones I liked (in no particular order):

Musical Fidelity X-LP
Gram Slee Gram Amp 2SE
Creek OBH8SE
Bottlehead Seduction
AES PH-1
Musical Surroundings Phonomena

The ones I really didn't like (in order of worst to best):

Lehmann Black Cube
Cambridge 640P
Creek OBH8 (non se)
Acurus PH1

Good luck with the quest!