Budget phono pre-amp suggestions please

[margetti]

Hi

 

After months (if not years) of randomly searching ebay for a turntable, I finally picked up a Project Debut (MkI) yesterday at a good price. Now looking for a phono pre-amp/phono stage!

 Budget is very tight (the other half is unimpressed I've bought "something that went out with the Ark" lol, so I'd be a dead man walking if I spent too much more.... ;-)

So financial pressure points me to the £20 offerings at Richer Sounds (Vivanco PA111) and Maplins, but I suspect these will be a false economy - anyone had any experience of either?

Otherwise, any other suggestions - if not by brand/model, then a minimum spend? I don't think the turntable will get a lot of use (my CD collection numbers LP's 30-1!), but there's little point in spending £20 if it's going to restrict the performance of the Debut. 

 

thanks in advance 

 

[fatboyslimfast]

Can you stretch to £79? The Cambridge 640p is a great little thing. If not, the 540p is still a good amp, and at £30 less.

Whilst the Vivanco will allow you to hear the vinyl, it won't be at it's best. If you really can't go to £80, try and get one off ebay for £50-ish...anything less than £50ish will be limiting it...

 

[d_a_n1979]

Take a look on eBay for either a NAD PP-1/NAD PP-2 PHONO PRE AMP.

They both got good reviews and can usually be bough for £25 or less.

 

[margetti]

Thanks, much appreciated! Have been googling since last night and NAD and Cambridge have popped up lot...

 

[The_Lhc]

fatboyslimfast:Can you stretch to £79? The Cambridge 640p is a great little thing.

If you can stretch to that much then Pro-ject's own phono stage is about the same price from Richer Sounds (I think I paid £75 as it happens), which would seem to be an appropriate choice for this turntable and has a USB port for ripping to Pc if that's of any use to you at all.

 

[the record spot]

Yep, tight budget and a new phono stage should send you to the two Cambridge versions. NAD thereafter. £99 gets you a Graham Slee however and it's very strong too according to reports, but might be more than you need. It will stand an upgrade or two though, but the Cambridge would do the same for less of course.

 

[margetti]

There are two Project Phono Boxes on ebay for £21/26 with eight hours to go, or a NAD PP2 for £16 but with 2 days to go...

Just called my local dealer who will do the PP2 for £50 in stock - so I'd have the Debut up and running today - nothing worse than new kit sitting there doing nothing!... oh decisions decisions! ÿ

 

[d_a_n1979]

I'd stick with the PP2 thats on ebay as its better to save £20 and get some new vinyl rather than pay full whack!

 

[margetti]

Good point!ÿ

ÿ

d_a_n1979:I'd stick with the PP2 thats on ebay as its better to save £20 and get some new vinyl rather than pay full whack!

 

[Anonymous]

I have two friends who have owned both the PP2 and the CA pre amp, and they both agree that the CA is superior. Actually, one of them, which now has a higher end phono stage, says the CA is almost as good as a Creek pre amp. And this guy knows a lot about turntables. So I would choose the CA.

 

[margetti]

Ooh - high praise indeed! Well, now that I've fought off the urge to buy the first thing I can get my hands on (lol), I'll keep my eye on the ebay auctions over the coming days - there's one or two of each of the brands mentioned in this thread...

ÿContinued thanks for your repliesÿ

ÿ

Tannoyite:I have two friends who have owned both the PP2 and the CA pre amp, and they both agree that the CA is superior. Actually, one of them, which now has a higher end phono stage, says the CA is almost as good as a Creek pre amp. And this guy knows a lot about turntables. So I would choose the CA.

 

[John Duncan]

Yeah the CA is top ace, but the price going up 20 quid (from 60) makes it less of a no-brainer now. I mean I still wouldn't upgrade mine unless I could afford a Dino, but it's more of a commitment than it used to be if you only have a Debut, for example.

 

[gregory]

Have to agree with John on this one, get yourself the CA640p before they go up in price, you will not regret it and it will stand upgrade after upgrade for years to come, until i can afford a nice valve phono stage my 640p will stay with me forever.

 

[margetti]

Reading a lot of good things here and elsewhere about the CA 640p. Very good things.

Mmmm... what did I say about a tight budget... well, I could do with losing a bit of weight I guess - no food for a week won't hurt me! 🙂

 

[margetti]

Bit the bullet today and bought a CA 640P from RS (got £10 knocked off just by asking!)

Initial impressions are, well, completely amazed! Stereo separation and width of the soundstage are astounding. Treble was a bit harsh to begin with, but even after an hour of listening this seems to have started to smooth out already.

Of course I haven't listened to any other pre-amp, so I'll never know how well it compares to the other amps discussed in this thread, nor if I've over-spent considering it's powering a budget turntable, but no complaints!

Thanks to all that posted!ÿ

 

[gregory]

Well done on getting £10.00 off, an even greater bargain, have a look on the TNT audio site, good review against 2 other stages and the vinyl engine site with plenty of glowing reviews. I know there are better phono stages but your getting in hundreds of pounds for a significant upgrade, like i said earlier i'm keeping mine i like it that much.