What should I do for a phono preamp?

[Jim Clark]

Trollgirl aka Lazurus Short hooked me up with a Dual CS 508 for a lousy 20 bucks. I bought a new but cheapo Audiotechnica 71 ELC cartridge (25 bucks) for it and am having it mounted at a shop and they are going to lube it up and do whatever needs to be done to the thing.

So now I'm going to need a preamp if I'm to use it in the main system since the Arcam doesn't have a phono input.

I'm looking at a Rotel RQ 970 BX that I can grab on Ebay for about 70 bucks and drive to Lawrence, KS to pick up.

I can also buy something off of Audiogon like a Creek OBH - 8 for under 200 bucks.

Obviously I'm just wading in at this point and not looking for nor expecting the last word in phono preamps. I really just want to see if the process is going to be worth the hassle for me before I get a bit more serious.

Regards,
jc

[JohnMichael]

I love my Rotel phono preamp. I have used it with Ortofon, Grado, AT and a Sumiko Blue Point and it performs very well. I paid $200.00 new so $70 is a great deal. The Rotel used to be a Stereophile recommended component and the Sensible Sound gave it a very good write-up.

I recently visited my brother who lives in Lenexa. Nice area.

[Mr Peabody]

I can vouch that the Creek OBH-8 is a real giant killer. I used one with my Rega P3 for a long time. When I decided to upgrade I was amazed at how much I had to spend to achieve an improvement. It's small in size and uses one of those outboard power supplies. The unit is Class A circuits.

www.amusicdirect.com has several affordable phono stages and will allow a 30 day trial if new is an option.

I'm not sure how much they are any more but Arcam will install a phono stage in your integrated and they are said to be pretty good.

People tend to gravitate to the NAD phono stage because of the affordability. I personally found that unit to be terrible in my system. It was worse than a $20.00 Radio Shack I had laying around.

[Jim Clark]

I love my Rotel phono preamp. I have used it with Ortofon, Grado, AT and a Sumiko Blue Point and it performs very well. I paid $200.00 new so $70 is a great deal. The Rotel used to be a Stereophile recommended component and the Sensible Sound gave it a very good write-up.

I recently visited my brother who lives in Lenexa. Nice area.

Bud, next time you're in Lenexa drop me a line. I meet people from AR and other boards all the time. It would be great to meet one of the big wigs here on the site. Don't forget to bring me an AR t-shirt, I wear an XL.

Thanks for the words on the Rotel, I'm glad it's in the running.

Thank you for your reply.

jc

[Jim Clark]

I can vouch that the Creek OBH-8 is a real giant killer. I used one with my Rega P3 for a long time. When I decided to upgrade I was amazed at how much I had to spend to achieve an improvement. It's small in size and uses one of those outboard power supplies. The unit is Class A circuits.

www.amusicdirect.com has several affordable phono stages and will allow a 30 day trial if new is an option.

I'm not sure how much they are any more but Arcam will install a phono stage in your integrated and they are said to be pretty good.

People tend to gravitate to the NAD phono stage because of the affordability. I personally found that unit to be terrible in my system. It was worse than a $20.00 Radio Shack I had laying around.

I just have an Arcam AVP 700 preamp and not an integrated. Not sure if that makes a difference but I guess it's worth checking into. I doubt that they could do it for less than 200 though meaning I'll probably stick with one of the other options.

That's great to hear your reaction to the Creek, it was at the front of my list until I came across this Rotel opportunity. Guess I'll decide in the next 2 days. Thanks for the information, it is appreciated.

jc

[emorphien]

People tend to gravitate to the NAD phono stage because of the affordability. I personally found that unit to be terrible in my system. It was worse than a $20.00 Radio Shack I had laying around.

I went with the NAD for that very reason! That and my amp and CD player are NAD (rega TT, denon cartridge). I plan to eventually replace the NAD but it actually has been quite good for me in this setup. I know there's more to discover with a better phono stage but right now I'm spending money on photography gear.

[Bernd]

Hi Jim,

I think that both your choices are solid ones. The Rotel is great value at $70.00. The Creek is slightly warmer sounding, but not by much.

Good luck

Peace

Bernd