ART DJPREII Phono Preamplifier

Full disclosure: I'm a vinyl record enthusiast, I've been using turntables for over 30 years, and I repair/rebuild/restore vintage turntables.I spent a couple of weeks trying to decide which sub-$100 phono preamp I should buy. Most of the preamps in this price range get mediocre reviews. I stumbled upon the ART DJPRE II almost by accident, and was impressed with the high number of favorable reviews, so I decided to give it a try.I've been using it for almost three months, and thus far I've been very impressed by it. The build quality is very good, the sound quality is excellent, and it has some nice features that I haven't seen in other comparably priced preamps.One of the things I like most about this preamp -- a feature that most other preamps in the same price range are lacking -- is the level adjustment knob. There are two scenarios where this feature comes in handy: first, if you use different cartridges with different output levels. For example, one of my cartridges has a high output level (9 mV), and one of my other cartridges has a much lower output level (2.5 mV). The level knob on the preamp allows me to adjust the preamp's amplification to match the cartridge I'm using. The other scenario is that some of my records were recorded at very low levels, and some of my other records were recorded at very high levels. The level adjustment knob, along with the signal/clipping light, makes it easy to adjust the output level, and this is VERY helpful when transferring vinyl records to CD/MP3. This might not seem like a big deal, but I find it to be a really great feature, and theoretically it should offer better audio quality than attempting to boost or lower the audio after the fact with an audio editing program -- which is what you'd have to do if your preamp didn't have a level adjustment knob.I also really appreciate the rumble filter, which is another great feature that isn't typically found on preamps in this price range. It works as advertised and does not alter the audio quality.I do find that the blue power light is very bright, as other reviewers have pointed out, but I'm not particularly bothered by it. If you find it disturbing, you can always put a small piece of black tape over it.If you need a phono preamp and you can't afford to spend big bucks, I think this is absolutely your best bet.UPDATE: I've now been using this preamp for almost two years and it still works flawlessly. I'm very happy I chose it.

For the money, this is one of the best phono preamps I have listened to . I have it hooked up to a technics player and to my main preamp .If you are looking for simple, good , clean sound with no rumble this is it without breaking the bank.

I have the same problem many have with a large collection of LPs, many of which have never been re-issued as CDs. I also have a living room "entertainment center" where my Technics SL1200MK5 turntable sits, plugged into my big Sony receiver. The problem was, how to get an RIAA amplified signal into my audio card to convert the analog LP signal to a .WAV file for burning to a CD. My desktop computer is several rooms away, and stringing a wire the length of the house is not much of an option. Neither was relegating a $1,200 turntable and my venerable Shure V15 Type 4 cartridge to the scrap heap and buying a cheap turntable with a USB wire.After doing some online research and reading reviews similar to this one, I thought the price of the ART DJPRE II phone Preamp was a fair risk and might allow me to retain the use of my Technics turntable and Shure cartridge. The question was one of quality.I moved the turntable into the computer room, leveled it and hooked up the ART DJPRE II preamp. It was necessary to turn down the gain setting to prevent an initial overload into the audio card, but all went well and I was able to capture the LP output directly to the computer as a .WAV file, running it through Wavecorrector 3.7 software to eliminate any ticks and pops from the record surface. I had the switchable filters disabled since I handle that with my computer software. The resulting CD was excellent, with a resulting sound actually better than the LP due to elimination of surface noise. I don't know how durable this unit is, but it works nicely. Strict audiophiles might scoff at the price, but my ears did not detect any sound degradation or tonal balance issues.