[Closed] One for the Hi-Fi experts - Phono preamps

Last time I looked I think there were some cheap battery ones?

rega you could pick up one of their little combo amps and then plug the tape out into your current setup, thats what I used to do and it worked a treat! (that only cost me about £50 I think)

for 50 quid you're not getting anything decent but you might pick up a secondhand rega fono for a little more.

Why do you "need" one?

Becasue my amp doesn't have a phono stage and I want to play my records again!

What's the amp?

I can't see how that matters, but It's a Cambridge Audio one of some description, I forget which now..... 🙂

buy another amp with phono functions and sell your cr@p one Vinyl is where it is at so the kids tell me

I have no idea why people ask about Hifi on a forum. You need to get yourself into some shops and listen to some and get the one you like.

I have no idea why people ask about mountain bikes on a forum. You need to get yourself into some shops and test ride some and get the one you like.

Also, there are one or two people over at avforums.com who might disagree.

I have no idea why people ask about Hifi on a forum. You need to get yourself into some shops and listen to some and get the one you like.

**deep breath**

If I was buying £500 amp, speakers or whatever, I would do. But I'm talking about a cheap phono stage, and the shops won't have 12-15 year old kit in stock like mine for me to try it out on, so it's pointless.

I asked just in case someone happens to have (Or have read about) a cheap phono stage the works OK before I spend my money. That's all. 😀

Cambridge audio do a good one for around 70 quid IIRC. They often come up for sale on the forums as many people use them to transfer vinyl to PC and then sell them on.
What record player and cartridge are you going to use?

My old Rega Planar 3 🙂

I've got one of [url= http://www.richersounds.com/product/phono-pre-amps/btech/bt26-pre-amp/b-te-bt26prea ] these.[/url] It's cheap and it does the job. Not pretty, but small enough to live out of sight.

If you've got a Cambridge Audio amp then it might match [url= http://www.richersounds.com/product/phono-pre-amps/cambridge-audio/540p/camb-540p-blk ] this[/url] for a few quid more than your budget.

I used do sell this stuff in a previous life.

We tanked out loads of NAD PP-1 and PP2 models. They were good.
The Project one is decent too.

Price wise they were about £50 at the time.

A bit cheaper than the Linn Linto we used to do.

I'd go with the Cambridge it's well made for the money.

If your deck has been out of use for a while you may find the cartridge suspension has perished. You could get a Rega Bias 2 cartridge for around another 50 quid.

I assume you know how to mount and align a cartridge and set the tracking force up correctly?

[url= http://www.richersounds.com/search/cambridge%20audio%20pre%20amp ]Camdridge Audio at Richer Sounds[/url]
Touch above budget, though it should be a match for your amp - if you believe in that sort of thing... 😉

I've got a CA one I'm not using if you want it Peter? 540P in silver. £30 posted?

Cheapish Project ones normally get good reviews.

What Cambridge amp? Cambridge used to make an internal pre amp, PM01 (I fitted one to my old A500) which just plugs into the circuit board - cost about £20 iirc. A quick google suggests it's no longer available new though, but you may be able to pick one up secondhand, if you're pushed for cash.
edit: just seen some of the prices for external units, probably not worth looking at my suggestion 😆

Sam, I might take you up on that! 🙂

traildog - Member
I have no idea why people ask about Hifi on a forum. You need to get yourself into some shops and listen to some and get the one you like.

See above...

pretty sure i also got one. maybe 2!

mail me if youre interested cos ill prob forget to look back on here.

I'm after one as well, PP let me know which one offer you take up, and I'll talk to one of the others.

Blaggers, I'm having the Cambridge one off Sam, so feel free to email Sadexpunk 🙂

Get the QED or NAD one and run it off batteries. Sounds the tits.

I knew a fella who had 3 phono stages and switched them over dependent on the records he was playing...

My project phono preamp works well with my rega3/linn set up - I think you can still get them for @£60

Vinyl is dead. Cassette is where it's at, grandad

People ask about bikes because long term experience and knowledge of them means alot when trying to choose which one to purchase. This is not the same for hifi equipment as it pretty much lasts your lifetime. Just because it's 'cheap' (50quid obviously means less to some people than others), the same principal applies. Get yourself listening to some. Even if it's not your equipment, it'll mean more than peoples word of mouth.
I have a Rega 3 also. The rega is still for sale nearly unchanged after all these years. The rega phono stage I heard wasn't too bad either.

i replaced my musical fidelity X-LP with the project one. It's ok, but I think i'll try and get the mf fixed as it sounded much better.

Get yourself listening to some

Anyway, too late. I'm buying Sams! 🙂

This thread has more then served it's purpose though, so thanks to those that can answer the question with an answer rather than sidestepping it! 😉

EDIT
To be honest, I'm trying to think, but I don't think I've EVER demoed ANY hi-fi I've bought. It's all budget stuff and I just used to buy whatever What HiFi said was decent, mostly from Richer Sounds. I think the most I've ever spent is about £180 on my Mission 733i floorstanders and about the same on my now defunct Marantz PM66SE amp. 🙂

I can't be arsed reading all that, and i'm betting most of it is useless info - so here's my tuppence worth

[url= http://www.richersounds.com/product/phono-pre-amps/cambridge-audio/540p/camb-540p-blk# ]http://www.richersounds.com/product/phono-pre-amps/cambridge-audio/540p/camb-540p-blk#[/url]

59 quid so just slightly out of budget but should do the trick nicely, failing that fleabay for an old amp

Just make sure the deck is set up right and the cartridge works properly.