cheap but decent quality preamps?

[recstar24]

I am currently going over ideas on beefing up my speaker rig. I've got my power amp pretty much solidified, but I need ideas for a cheap preamp that can suffice until I replace it with a more high end headphone/preamp combo.

B&K PRO 10

Don't know much about that pre, but $329 for a FET discrete pre with MM/MC phono stage and balanced output doesn't sound too shabby.

Any ideas or thoughts you can share would be great. Again cheaper the better, ideally not a long term solution.

[Hopstretch]

AudiogoN ForSale: McCormack/Mod Squad Line Drive

AudiogoN ForSale: McCormack TLC-1

Stereophile: McCormack Line Drive TLC-1 preamplifier

Edited October 11, 2009 by Hopstretch

[Sherwood]

One would ask the question, Ryan: isn't there a preamp in your Si2a3?

[Aura]

Recently I was intrigued by Acurus (L10 specifically) and Aragon (18K, 24K, and 28K).

[recstar24]

One would ask the question, Ryan: isn't there a preamp in your Si2a3?

yes, the si2a3/45H does have a volume control for the input. Obviously I am aware of this, so using that logic, the presence of the original question could possibly lead you to believe that I might possibly be heading in another direction;)

[grawk]

I found a rotel RC1090 on ebay for under $400, it's possible another might show up

mc/mm, balanced ins and outs, sounds pretty good.

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah, I'm looking for a cheap preamp, myself. I'll probably be getting a Musical Fidelity X-CAN v8p until I can get the Conrad-Johnson of my dreams. They also had a small form factor pre with multiple inputs, whose name I cannot remember.

Used, I'd look into just about anything from the Musical Fidelity lines: A3.2, A308, A5, Nu-Vista, etc. The A3^CR is very good (I owned it for a while), but the A3.2 is supposed to be just a tiny bit better. I'd also look into used Conrad-Johnsons.

[Aura]

yes, the si2a3/45H does have a volume control for the input. Obviously I am aware of this, so using that logic, the presence of the original question could possibly lead you to believe that I might possibly be heading in another direction;)

Are you sticking with the hornshoppes or just going for a complete overhaul?

[dsavitsk]

I'd spend $60 on a couple of transistor, a few capacitors, a 9V battery, and a plastic box, and build something super cheap that will embarrass the other stuff in this thread. You only have one source, after all, so the switch and extra RCA jacks are superfluous.

[digger945]

Maybe if you contact Tea Bag on diyA you can still get one of the pcb's from the GB(ends tonight at midnight) for the B1 buffer.

[Asr]

Parasound 2100? AudiogoN ForSale: Parasound 2100

There's also a Halo P3 if you don't mind spending a little more: AudiogoN ForSale: Parasound Halo P3

[Sherwood]

I sold a Halo P3 for $300 on here not too long ago. It sat for weeks before Zippy jumped on it.

What I'm saying is, th price jumps around. Occasionally Agon is flooded with them, and they're cheap. I'd wait for that, as it's a very nice preamp.

[Dusty Chalk]

That's weird -- the P3 links to a power chord.

What about the Emotiva?

Also, the Musical Fidelity I was thinking of was the X-Pre v3 -- not that far off from the X-Can v8p, really.

[guzziguy]

Scroll down to the bottom of the page.

[Dusty Chalk]

Que?

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[morphsci]

I'd get a micro line drive like THIS or THIS. The first one is a little high so I would offer less and see what shakes out. They are very good little pres and you can be like stretch.

[guzziguy]

Que?

There was a link at the bottom of this page: AudiogoN ForSale: Parasound Halo P3. Now that listing for the power chord has expired.

[ktm]

I am currently going over ideas on beefing up my speaker rig. I've got my power amp pretty much solidified, but I need ideas for a cheap preamp that can suffice until I replace it with a more high end headphone/preamp combo.

B&K PRO 10

Don't know much about that pre, but $329 for a FET discrete pre with MM/MC phono stage and balanced output doesn't sound too shabby.

Any ideas or thoughts you can share would be great. Again cheaper the better, ideally not a long term solution.

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?preatran&1260671894&/Classe-Twenty-Preamp--Black

[url=http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?preatran&1260410631&/Linn-Pretek]AudiogoN ForSale: Linn Pretek-

AudiogoN ForSale: Ps Audio 4.5 Preamp in good