rolls Phono Preamp, Red (VP29)

In my 60 years plus of turntables and phono cartridges and preamp experience.. I have rarely come across such an item at such a low cost to both novices and experienced audiophiles alike. Having said that.. the rolls VP 29 phone on stage is one of those rare gems that definitely twinkle went in the ear of the beholder.It's bright red compact appearance easily distinguishes this little Wonder from others. The connections to the rear of the Red Box are well marked on top indicating both left and right inputs and outputs which just happened to be gold-plated and just happen to make me very very happy that they are so! Use good cables and your turntable will sound even better. Incidentally while speaking of the rear connections there is a ground binding post which is absolutely exemplary! It features a small hole in the HD screw connector which accepts both bare wire and lug very nicely and securely. Kudos to this USA company for designing an engineering such a compact Little Wonder.All of this is well and good but how does it sound? Well I'm happy to report that the sound is absolutely exceptional especially at its price point. I seriously doubt that you could do significantly better at twice the price. The sound quality coming from your turntable will be rich detailed and startling as you will discover new nuances in your favorite records. The dimensionality of the image is a wonderful despite what a few nose up in the air audio files might tell you. Anyone who tells you that it lacks such a quality either doesn't know what they're talking about or have turned a blind eye to such a budget product. The fact of the matter is that this budget preamp Wonder brings an extraordinary amount of detail to the table. You need it especially if you're modern receiver or amplifier Lacks a phono stage input. It is designed strictly for moving magnet cartridges not moving coil ones which have an even lower output so please keep that in mind. As such this turns out to be a strength rather than a weakness for the product as the engineering and circuitry and overall build quality is focused on moving magnet performance. The OUTPUT of the VP29 is significantly HIGHER than the cheapies. Please keep this in mind.In conclusion I would say.. especially if you're a beginner in the hobby.. trying to avoid the temptation to choose a made in China $10 preamp but also avoid the more expensive types made anywhere! Trust me when I tell you this is your preamp and I have been looking at this for over the past 10 years and finally pulled the trigger I'm glad I did! Made in USA and it's now hooked up to my maiden USA u-turn orbit basic green turntable and I'm loving it! Your ears will thank you. Happy listening and God bless you and enjoy the music!.. p Js 2

Reminder: This is not a sound enhancing preamplifier for your entire amplifier unit. This is for converting your non-digital turntable signal into a line level signal.And this unit does an admirable job at that. It's totally quiet, which is huge at this price. So many of these boxes rattle and hum until you get into audiophile prices. But it's not really designed to enhance the sound of your turntable like those are, these were more designed to accurately reproduce the sound of your turntable and stylus at a constant line level, then let your amplifier do its thing. And that's exactly what this does, with a little added warmth. No fuss, no muss. Just a nice looking, working man's, nothin' fancy, get the job done, smooth, strong, red metal unit. This was a pleasant surprise.

What can I say? I like this little thing. I'm a DJ but I don't rock 2 turntables and a mixer anymore. Instead, I sold off one of my precious 1200s and kept the other one for ripping vinyl. That's why I needed a preamp. I picked this one, along with a few others, figuring to audition each one then keep my favorite. This one arrived first, sounds great, and is made in the USA so I didn't even bother auditioning the rest. The volume is nice and loud and I can even run it through my DJ controller's auxiliary input with plenty of volume (probably due more to the trusty Shure M44-7 cartridge that I use). Though it's all subjective, I noticed more definition through the whole spectrum of sound while using this device, as compared to running my 1200 through a Pioneer DJM-450 phono input. I'm half tempted to re-rip my vinyl collection all over again after auditioning this little preamp. Is it audiophile-grade? No, but it's more than good enough for my needs and would have to be better than any built-in preamp in any of the modern turntables available, or even most sub $1500 DJ mixers.

Sounds fine for the price. Have a late 60s Acoustic Research XA turntable going into a single ended class A audio amp with the wiring split to go to an Elac Debut powered sub. Can't complain. I suppose I could spend more than the whole system is worth on something "audiophile" grade, but why bother. It gets the job done just fine. Recommend it!

Very responsive and don’t distortion the sound, good quality built

First, I'm no expert in audio technology. Second, I'm also no audiophile. And thrice, I just enjoy great music and vinyl so this preamp worked great! I got a GREAT deal on a Thorens (under $100) and was looking to play my old records via my headphones and pc speakers for a while until I upgraded to some higher end speakers. This preamp has a headphone jack so I could plug my turntable in and my self powered PC speakers and I had sweet sweet music playing from my turntable. No humming, no issues whatsoever. This is not audiophile quality but if you want a great cheap and easy setup, look no further.

I did the normal routine of doing a google search for preamps. This one kept popping up in "best of" lists. Plus, it's RED, so decided to give it a go. Using it with a Pioneer PL-30k, with LP GEAR CARBON FIDELITY CF3600LE phono cartridge. And here's the weird part of my setup- I'm running this through a cheapo Bluetooth transmitter via the headphone output to my Samsung/Harman Kardon HW-Q90R. My living room doesn't really afford a way to have a "proper" setup like I had in our previous home. This is actually a very decent sounding setup! Mind you I'm a layman, but it sounds very good to my ears. I A/B'ed the internal preamp of the PL-30k and this Rolls, and it really allows the pop, analog warmth, and clarity to shine through It was plug and play, no muss no fuss. VERY glad I bought it.

It works beautifully. This is an excellent preamp and it seems to be built to last for a long time. Very happy with this product.