I use a Benz PP-1 and a Passive preamp with no problems, unless you want rock concert levels.
Phono Stage for passive preamp control
Considering transformer-based passive preamplification. Can anyone suggest a quality tube phono stage with sufficient gain for lower input MC pickups in such a configuration ($2K new or used range)? Don't need volume control on the phono stage, but could go with one that wil bypass the volume control. Am I restricted to a SS phono stage in order to have sufficient gain WITHOUT a step-up device?