Five Great Sounding Phono Stages under $500

We all know that it is easy to get carried away with spending on a vinyl set up..chasing performance by “upgrading” cartridges, cables, sub-platters, and power supplies, etc. One area where some vinylphiles often get stumped with is choosing a nice sounding phono preamp that won’t devour a big part of your bank account. This is, of course, assuming you don’t have a built in phono stage in your preamp or integrated amp, which is always an ideal solution.

Here is a list of 5 really great sounding phono preamps under $500, based on panel listening, and direct experience.

These are listed in order of cost-

1-Schiit- Mani-$129