Phono Amp recomendation

Never heard your rcvr, but there is a Lehman Black cube for sale in that range, which is a good value.

Used Bottlehead Seduction $200-300, very sweet sounding

Bellari VP 129, very nice, even has a headphone jack with volume control but you may have to work with hum issues.

I love the Cambridge 640 (not the 540). You can get it new for under 200.

I wanted to grab the Bellari, but I heard from multiple audio stores that the amp will hum where I live.

If U can locate a used XR2 via (RSA) Ray Samuals Audio, no hum, musical bliss. U'll never look back

A number of suggestions - on the new side I agree with the recommendation of the Cambridge 640 p. You might also try the NAD PP-2 or PP-3. On the used side you could try Acurus p-10 or if you want a something on the tube side the Jolida 9.

I just purchased the Vista Audio Phono-1 on a whim. For $350 it is quite good. Doesn't have the loading options one might like, but Boris can set it up for you based on your cartridge specs and gain requirements. Good discussion on the product over at Audio Circle and you can see the ad here:

Vista Audio

thanks everyone. that vista looks interesting. i think i can demo the cambridge 640 at my local audio store, so i might do that. Trying to decide right now whether to spend my last $$ on the phone amp, or spend it on a herbie record mat that i've heard good things about and on some record cleaning equipment. decisions...

For new retail in the $200 and under crowd, I'll add my 2 cents for the 640P. I've had one for a year and a half and like it very much. It touched off upgrade fever where only the turntable and some of the cables from the previous system were left standing. If you cast about the Internet, you'll find a comparison review where the Cambridge trumps the Parasound ZPhono and is competitive with the $450 Slee.

The other one I'd consider at that range is the Musical Fidelity V-LPS. Everything from their no-cosmetics V-series has been getting rave reviews.

Some of the mail order houses such as Audio Advisor and (I think) Music Direct carry both units and have generous trial periods. Keep all the packaging and if you don't like what you hear within 30 days, call 'em up and get a return authorization. Then all you pay is return shipping.