The PP1 is for moving magnet or high-output moving coil cartridges only. A good low cost phono preamp that will play both moving magnet, plus high output and low output moving coil cartridges is the Rotel RQ-970. It lists for $199 and can be had used for as little as $100. They come up for auction on eBay quite often. It was favorably reviewed by Stereophile a few years ago. There are other good reviews also. Creek also makes a decent low cost phono preamp; they are separate MM and MC models.
Rediscovering vinyl - Question about phono preamp
OK so i get the urge to listen to some of those records which have been packed away for some time but don't have a phono preamp. So down to the local hi-fi shop I go and pick up a NAD PP1 phono preamp. Don't need anything too elaborate since my turntable is a mid-fi (at best) 15-20 yr old Dual. Back home everything is installed and the records cleaned, I pop on REO TWO and whoa, REO isn't supposed to sound this good. Their cd's generally sound terribly bright, but this sounds not bad at all. A week or so later I decide to a-b some cd's to records. What's this, my $125 TT is rivaling my $2200 cd player. No it is not quite as good, but pretty close. Now I'm thinking, "What would a $500-$800 sound like. Now I have the itch and have been looking at turntables ie MMF5 and 7 and Rega P3. I notice the MMF7 comes with MC cartridge. Question is will MC cartridge work with my NAD phono preamp? I know this needs to be upgraded but my budget only allows for one step at a time in which I would like to upgrade to a Lehmann Black Cube at a future date. So will it work or do I need to go with MM cartridge? Also what is the advantage/ disadvantages of MC cartridge? As always, thanks for the help.