Bands-Eye View

There are basically two types of turntables — amplified and unamplified.

Some turntables are stand-alone devices, not a complete entertainment system. These types often lack a preamp.

What is a preamp? A little background first.

In order to fit long-playing music onto an LP record, vinyl is typically recorded with reduced lower frequencies and boosted higher frequencies. This is called the RIAA curve. To capture audio from your vinyl, you need to make sure this curve is corrected. A USB turntable, (one specifically made for digitizing vinyl, in other words) will take care of all this for you. Some audio input devices, designed for computers that lack a sound input port, will also correct this.

Another problem with preamps is boosting these frequencies back to normal levels when you play a record. You can rebalance the frequencies by altering the equalizer settings in your audio software.

A third problem with turntables is the low frequency hum. If you hear this when you’re trying to preview a record, you are hearing ground, caused when the turntable from which your preamp amplifies sound is ungrounded. You can correct this by wrapping your turntable’s grounding wire around the bottom prong of a three-pronged plug like the one on your power strip, and plugging it into a grounded outlet.

None of these things are issues for you when you buy a USB turntable–one specifically made for digitizing vinyl, or when you use a turntable that has a built-in stereo receiver. How do you know if your turntable has a stereo receiver? If your unit has a built-in AM-FM radio or cassette deck, then you can be assured that it also has a built-in receiver.

You can avoid these hassles by buying a turntable specifically made for converting vinyl into MP3 format. The Sony PS-LX300USB USB Stereo Turntable System offers a built-In Phono Preamp, Static Balance Tonearm and Fully Automatic Operation. The Ion Audio TTUSB 10 Vinyl Recording USB Turntable offers switchable Phono/Line-level RCA output (with built-in pre-amp) and Adjustable Anti-Skate control for increased stereo balancing.

Art Pre Ii Phono Preamp Picture

Art Pre Ii Phono Preamp Pic

Art Pre Ii Phono Preamp Pic

Art Pre Ii Phono Preamp Photo

Most helpful customer reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful.
Inexpensive Yet High Quality Phono Preamp
By H. Kane
Recently I sold off my high end stereo preamp and power amp to transition to a multichannel home theater environment. The stereo preamp had a very nice phono stage and after reviewing the specs and prices on countless generic and hybrid phono preamps I decided to take a chance on the ART DJ Pre II. Am I glad I did. Even though I was prepared to drop some serious cash on one of the more esorteric audiophile preamps I had wondered whether any inexpensive phono preamp could provide reasonable playback quality.

As I’m now streaming audio and video to my home theatre from my home computer network (via wired ethernet) I wanted a simple device that would enable me to playback and/or digitize my LP collection (numbering over 1000 albums). After interfacing the ART DJ Pre II to my home brew computer’s Audigy 2 music card via a quality shielded mini-cable and adjusting and matching the signal levels appropriately on both the preamp and my computer software I was pleasantly surprised at the purity of reproduction.

While this arrangement may not approach the most sophisticated levels of vinyl reproduction possible, for one who attends live orchestral music concerts and plays SACD’s on a regular basis the ART DJ comes darn close. When adding the fact that I’ve avoided spending several thousand dollars on an audiophile quality phono preamp I’m left with a very pleasant smile on my face.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful.
ART DJ Pre II Phono Preamp
By E. Jackson
Our Kenwood receiver and turntable are probably 14 or 15 years old in excellent condition, but I upgraded the receiver. As goes technology, the turntable was not compatible with the new receiver.

The ART DJ Pre II Phono Preamp was just what my home theater sales associate recommended, not by brand, but he told me what I needed and boy was it the ticket.

I just plugged it in and I was back in action.

User friendly for the over 50, excellent product.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful.
Great value……….
By J. Wright
I’m really happy with this puppy. My records never sounded so good and I especially like the input gain control. My old preamp only had a low-med-high gain switch which didn’t allow precise input levels. If you use different cartridges/turntables, you’ll appreciate the gain control.

Not exactly sure what the capacitance switch does as I can’t tell any difference in either setting. It may help with some cartridges. The rumble filter might work with some turntables but doesn’t seem to make any difference with my DUAL which has extremely low rumble. The yellow lights are pretty anyway.

I’m no expert but I think this is a very good buy. Very well made and I think you’d have to spend a lot more money to improve the sound. BTW, I use several DUAL turntables, Ortofon cartridges, M-Audio USB external sound device, Monster cables.

See all 32 customer reviews…