If you are restricted to a $500 budget, my best suggestion is an interim approach: buy a used Adcom GFP-565 preamp, and save your money until you can afford a much better tube unit. The Adcom 565 has an excellent phono stage (it got outstanding reviews in the audio mags at the time it was being manufactured), as well as a bypass output. A used Adcom GFP-565 preamp usually sells for around $300 here on Audiogon.
Tube Phono Preamp ? ? ?
I have B&W 804N Speakers, Cary 94L Tube Preamp and Cardas Cables, Rega P3 Turntable and Adcom amp. Im looking to upgrade the amp soon but I need a nice Phono Preamp and dont know where to start. I dont know if I should go with a tube phono preamp or an integrated phono preamp. Since I'm new to TT I want to keep the cost to under $500.00 or so.
Thanks.
Thanks.