The Best Phono Preamps Under $500

At Audio Advice, we are loving the vinyl revolution. We started out in 1978 setting up turntables and never stopped! For those of you just entering the fun world of vinyl or those of you getting back into it, one item that may be a bit confusing is the phono preamp. The phono preamp is a critical piece to your vinyl set up, but does have its technical side which without a proper education, can be a bit daunting. By the time you have finished the first part of this “best of” guide, we hope you’ll have a better understanding of how to pick the best one to suit your needs now and for the future. If you already know all about phono preamps, you can jump to our best of section below!

For a deeper education on all things related to turntables including phono preamps, take a look at our turntable buyers guide here. We also have a full article on "What is a phono preamp?"

Why You Need It

A turntable is different from almost all other types of playback devices. A tiny stylus follows the modulations in record grooves, transmitting those little changes into the cartridge. The signal the cartridge produces from this is super low in level. It can be up to 1000 times less than what you would get from a CD player!

Also, back in the 1950’s the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) came up with a way to put more music on one side of a record. The lower bass tones took up more space in the record groove, so in a nutshell, they reduced the bass levels and set up standards for phono preamps to put the bass back in when the signal passed through a phono preamp.

Your phono preamp has to take the super low level incoming signal and amplify it while at the same time applying the re-equalization as specified by the RIAA.

If you plugged your turntable into the CD input on your system, the sound would be very low and there would be virtually no bass. Before the CD came into being, most receivers and amplifiers came with some sort of built in phono preamp. After about 1990, the phono preamp was dropped from most new electronics so most of us need to purchase a separate phono preamp to get that great sound from our turntable.

When You Don’t Need a Phono Preamp

Obviously if your amp or receiver has a phono preamp built in (that is compatible with your turntable, more about that below) you would not need a separate phono preamp. Also some turntables come with the phono preamp built in. If you have a turntable with a built in phono preamp, you do not need another one. 

Why a Good Phono Preamp is Important

There is an old saying in the world of audio: your system is only as good as the weakest link. This really applies to your phono preamp. It is taking a signal that comes in measured in less than 5-6 millivolts (sometimes as low as .2 millivolts) and amplifying it up to 2 volts! If anything goes wrong in that process, it gets multiplied by literally over 1000 times. To put that in perspective, draw as straight a line as you can on a piece of paper. Then look at it or imagine looking at it through a magnifying glass. It’s not going to be straight! We all want to get as close as we can to what our favorite artists wanted us to hear, which means we don’t want our phono preamp to pollute the signal. And it does not stop there. Whatever amplification your phono preamp does to the signal happens again inside your amp. At Audio Advice, we feel getting the beginning signal right, is about as important as anything in achieving a great musical experience!

Features To Consider In a Phono Preamp

The first thing you should think about is that there are two main types of phono cartridges: Moving Magnet and Moving Coil. As a general rule, most entry-level to moderately priced turntables come with a moving magnet cartridge. Moving coil cartridges have about 10 times less output than a moving magnet. This means there is even more room for error when their super tiny signal gets amplified. As a result, phono preamps that can do both moving magnet and moving coil type cartridges usually cost more. The flip side is, moving coil cartridges are preferred by audiophiles and music lovers because they are able to extract more information from the record grooves.

When you are looking at phono preamps, you have probably come across a spec that talks about loading. This is the resistance the phono cartridge sees from the phono preamp. For almost all moving magnets they want to see a standard loading of 47K. However, moving coil cartridges are all over the map and can vary from 1000 to 10 ohms in what is ideal for them, which depends on the individual cartridge design.

If you have or are considering a turntable that has a moving magnet cartridge, you may not need to look at models that also work with moving coils. But just remember, the better ones do work with both types.

Also, if you think you might get into the great hobby of vinyl and want to one day upgrade to a moving coil, you may want to plan for that possibility.

The Best Phono Preamps Under $500

• Pro-Ject MM
• Cambridge Audio Solo
• MoFi Studio Phono
• Rega Fono MM
• Pro-Ject Phono Box DS2

Pro-Ject MM $79

Pro-Ject Audio, based in Europe, is the world's largest manufacturer of turntables. They also make quite a few phono preamps. We feel the MM phono preamp is a great value for under $79. It is designed for moving magnet cartridges only, has solid connections, and is very low noise. We love companies who practice “trickle down” technology where what they learn on their no holds barred products makes it into their more affordable models. The Pro-Ject MM is a great example of where you get some awesome circuitry that has its heritage in much more expensive pieces

High Notes

Dual Mono Circuitry- With a separate circuit for each channel, you’ll get great stereo separation.

Low Noise- With it’s well shielded case and low noise circuitry, the MM will not add noise to the signal.

Small Form Factor- The Pro-Ject MM is tiny with a separate power supply which allows you to locate it right behind your turntable in most cases.

MoFi Studio Phono $299

Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs got started in the early 1970’s making their famous Original Master Recordings, many of which are worth thousands today if you can find one. A few years ago they launched a line of turntables, phono preamps, and phono cartridges to compliment their great recordings. The Studio Phono is our first pick that can handle both moving coil and moving magnet cartridges. And unlike some entry level moving coil models, it offers a wealth of settings that should line up with about 95% of the moving coils on the market. You also get adjustable gain, a mono switch (think of those Beatles and Stones mono recordings), and a switchable subsonic filter. It also sounds amazing as Tim De Paravicini, one of the most famous analog engineers out there, assisted with its design. This is our go to model for people who want to explore moving coil cartridges or want a great moving magnet phono preamp!

High Notes

Tim De Paravicini Design- As the designer of the famous Mobile Fidelity Gain2 Ultra Analog Cutting system, his circuitry has always been extremely accurate and musical. The sound of this little $299 jewel is shockingly good for the money

Adjustments Galore- With several loading options for moving coil cartridges, adjustable gain, and a mono switch, you can grow with the Studio Phono as your turntable improves. Plus its switchable subsonic filter can be really handy in some situations.

Elegant Form Factor- The Studio Phono has a cool form factor that can fit right behind your turntable, but you may want to show it off. We love the little yellow light that pays homage to the classic Studor 24 track reel to reel audio recorder many studios used in the 1970s.

Pro-Ject Phono Box DS2 $399-$499 (finish options)

Imagine that, we did a list of top 5 under $500 and we kept the top one under $400 if you get the basic finish! But we must admit, the silver/wood finish for an extra $100 really looks cool.

If you want a phono preamp you can grow with, the Phono Box DS2 offers up a ton of options for adjusting it to match well with a huge variety of phono cartridges. It will do both moving magnet and moving coil cartridges and even gives you some fine tuning on capacitance adjustments for moving magnets. The moving coil section gives you about every setting you could need. The neat part is, the settings are accessed on the front panel so you can make changes on the fly while listening to hear for yourself the differences. We have found with moving coils, going up or down one level will make a difference in the sound most people can easily hear. Going up usually makes things leaner while going down usually gets things warmer. The dual mono design of the Phono Box DS2 assures you of great separation and we like the fact Pro-Ject spent some time designing the chassis to be resistant to resonances.

High Notes

Super Flexible- We can’t think of a phono preamp with more adjustments for the money than the Phono Box DS2

On the Fly Adjustments- We think its really cool that you can change the settings that affect the sound on the fly. Your ears will tell you if you made a good or bad change in the cartridge adjustment settings.

Great Build Quality- The Phono Box DS2 feels like a high end piece of audio gear. It has the construction you would expect to see on a piece costing almost twice as much.