[Ericus Rex]

HI.
Nope, I'd suggest all tubes, from phonostage to linestage.
Tubes, I mean triodes, sound so much better than any SS, brandnames or DIYed, price regardless.

c-J

I used to be anti-SS all the way.  But over the past year I've come to realize that an SS phono stage does make a lot of sense considering gain required and noise.  But I'll only give up tubes in preamps and amps when my hearing goes!  I agree with Doug that you should seriously consider ss phono stages, especially considering your price range.  I have owned a Ray Samuels Nighthawk and currently own a Rogue Audio Triton.  I'd heartily recommend either.

[WGH]

Are they [Cornet2] really that good? I've been thinking of building one.

I have only compared my Cornet2 to lower priced phono preamps and still like it better, it just sounds right. I have all the cap upgrades but still run the stock resistors. When built correctly the Cornet2 is completely silent, no hum, no hiss, with plenty of strong tight bass because of the big iron Jim uses in the design.

Although the Cornet2 is terrific for the price, the Trumpet is better. I noticed one for sale last week:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=102722.msg1042077#msg1042077

Trumpet info: http://www.hagtech.com/trumpet.html

I read everything about the Cornet2 on the Hagerman Circle before starting my build. Search there using "Cornet2" and "tubesforever" to start your journey.

Wayne

[Poultrygeist]

The Cornet2 is excellent but the half kit which is only a PCB and manual is $500. One could spend a fortune building one if they included boutique parts.

I rarely see a built one for sale.

[WGH]

The Cornet2 is excellent but the half kit which is only a PCB and manual is $500.

The PCB is $129. The $500 parts estimate is for a stock Cornet2 with good parts, boutique parts will get you close to the $1000 mark.

Wayne

[Yomaha]

Just wanted to chime in and thank everyone for the insightful responses.  This is a great stack of leads for me to do further research and hopefully some auditioning.  Thanks!

[Poultrygeist]

I've had the Jolida JD9 for a week and I thought the phono stage on my CJ was pretty good. Not even close.