pre amp advice

[JQ1666]

a good preamp (<500.00) to go with my sonance 260 x 3 mkII

[nightflier]

$500, is that for second-hand, or new?

[Mr Peabody]

You said x3, are you looking for home theater? For under 500 you will need to look for a receiver that offers preamp outs if so. Doubtful you'll find a preamp for that budget. If stereo on the used market there are some pretty good options, check www.audiogon.com

[blackraven]

For less than $500, you will need to go used to get a decent one. Here's a few listed on www.audiogon.com

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?preatran&1237581330&/Parasound-Halo-P-3

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?preatran&1237564567&/Adcom-GFP-565

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?preatran&1237347946&/Classe-CP35

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?preatran&1236543933&/Outlaw-Audio-970

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?preatran&1235079297&/Anthem-TLP-1

The Anthem will offer 2.1 and the outlaw I believe is 5.1

[JQ1666]

I am looking for used and need phono inputs
the sonance is a 260x3 mkII, I plan on running front and rear stereo speakers and a subwoofer, I have some good options here, anyone else wanna weigh in? I appreciate the help

[blackraven]

Buy a seperate phono preamp http://www.needledoctor.com/Online-Store/Phono-Preamps.

Parasound has the NewClassic 2100 preamp with phono and MP3 inputs. Sells for $649 new, you might be able to find it used for less.

That Parasound Halo P3 that is listed on audiogon has phono preamp as well as XLR in/out.

[Glen B]

I plan on running front and rear stereo speakers and a subwoofer, I have some good options here, anyone else wanna weigh in? I appreciate the help

Then you're wasting time looking at 2-channel preamps. A budget of $500 is not going to cut it for more than 2 channels, even on the used market, unless you want some really old, outdated pre/processor that probably has only Dolby Pro Logic.

You can't even get an AVR with full set of preouts for $500. Only the more expensive receivers in most manufacturers model lineup (usually greater than $500) come with preouts for all channels; their lower end models usually have only subwoofer outputs. I paid $899 for my Onkyo TX-DS696 AVR several years ago and that was the least expensive model at the time with a full set of preouts.

You will need to raise your budget if you hope to get something decent for multichannel (and that will give you decent 2-channel reproduction, if you're into that). You can get an Outlaw Model 970 pre/processor currently for $599, and you will need an outboard phono preamp, since the Outlaw does not have phono.

http://www.outlawaudio.com/products/970.html

[blackraven]

Glen, the Onkyo TX SR806 has full pre outs for all channels and can be had for $599. I wouldnt hesitate buying the 806 for HT use and decent 2 ch audio.

http://www.onkyousa.com/zoom.cfm?class=Receiver&m=TX-SR806# Click on rear view.

[Glen B]

Okay. but only because apparently prices have been lowered (new models coming ?). . The last time I looked at the prices of receivers, the SR806 was listed on Crutchfield's website at $999.00 retail. Now I see they are being deeply discounted.