Howdy. I see/hear that the 950 will NOT have a phono input. Yeah, I still have some vinyl and a not-so-expensive turntable. However, I surely don't want to have to spend any significant $$$ on another outboard device (phono stage amp?). Anyone know of any cheapo-but-decent device that will give me this kind of functionality on the 950 so's I can use the turntable on'er?

Thanks.

Do you have an old receiver with a phono input? Knida bulky, but you could use pre-amp outputs or even a tape loop output from that receiver to make the receiver a phono pre-amp (tape loop might actually be best, as it should bypass the volume control on the receiver). If you've got one that you can use for that task, there's a free solution. Others here may have some thoughts on -- synthfreek has a phono preamp for his Rega, and may have some thoughts on inexpensive "real" phono preamps.

Merry Christmas!

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Gonk

Hello,

Nad has a phono pre-amp the pp-1 it is pretty cheap if I remember and it works real well. I do like most of nad's products so I might be biased but there should be plenty of other products out there that would fit the bill.
http://nadelectronics.com/Special/PP1.html

m-mmeyer

Thanks for the quick replies. I think I stumbled upon something more in my price range than the NAD (albeit surely a fine product). Recoton makes a phono pre-amp for about 45 bucks, so until I find something cheaper, that will probably be my option.

The old receiver method is workable, but not preferable, due to space limitations where the audio gear will be located. Thanks again!

Hi! If it's not too late I'd recommend the Parasound PPH-100 phono preamp. Believe it or not it retails for only $129 but I've seen mint ones with their original boxes sell on eBay for around $70-80. The NAD is OK but the Parasound seemed to open up the soundstage a bit and the bass is more defined. I actually bought both and tried them out for a few days and took the NAD back. The Rega with a Super Elys cartridge certainly helps:-)

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The least expensive phono amp I know of is the battery-powered one from Radio Shack ($25). The good news is that this amp is at least as good as the NAD PP-1, IMO (I've used both). For more than you'll ever want to know about this, check out the vinyl forum at www.audioasylum.com, and use the search term "Little Rat".

It's not the cheapest of the cheap, but Creek a low end phono preamp that is supposed to be very good. They make it in versions for both MM and MC cartridges. The MM version is $169 from Audio Advisor. Pretty inexpensive for a single-ended Class A circut phono preamp. They also make "Special Edition" versions of both which improve the parts and P/S.