Cheap Pre and MM Phono Stage

BrumjamBrumjam
in Amplifiers
Recently I've acquired a rather tasty EAR 890 power amp. I'm running my DAC direct into it and using the volume control in Squeezelite.

What I'd like to do is buy a cheap pre with phono stage, or two separate boxes is fine, so that I can hook up my turntable.

With a budget of £200-£300 what should I buy? It doesn't have to be new, but I've not seen much that floats my boat on fleabay of late.

Comments

  • uglymusicuglymusic
    How about a Tisbury Audio Passive - about £135 - and my NVA phono 2 and twin PSU for any sensible offer?

    Cheeky, perhaps, but should be a great way to spend your budget.
  • BrumjamBrumjam
    Tisbury is a good shout Dave, thanks. I'll pass on your NVA phono stage though.
  • uglymusicuglymusic
    Seems no one wants NVA these days. I wonder why? :-)
  • AntiCrapAntiCrap
    That is a shame the NVA is very nice.

  • sovereignsovereign
    Another kick in the teeth for Dave, I have a bit gin left in the bottle if you want it mate

  • PACPAC
    edited February 2016
    Personally, whilst a passive is a simple device, I also find most of them a bit lacking, especially in the bass department and many designs aren't buffered to allow anything other than short interconnects to be used.  Been there, got the tee shirt, never again.  As a stand in, you wont go far wrong with something like a used Audiolab 8200Q (maybe £200 for a good one), Quad 44 not a bad shout (£100 to £200), MF Preamp 2 a great little preamp with a good phono stage (again around £200 buys a good one).
  • uglymusicuglymusic
    sovereign said:
    Another kick in the teeth for Dave, I have a bit gin left in the bottle if you want it mate

    Send it over mate! :-)
  • BrumjamBrumjam
    Thanks Paul. I'll do some investigating re that MF pre. There's an Eastern Electric Minimax pre making its way over to me shortly for a demo, but I think it will add too much gain....the EAR has lots more gain compared to my Oto.
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