The ART DJPRE II has been my phono preamp of choice since 2014 and have absolutely no plans of replacing it. A product with one of the very best price / quality relationships ever.

Can’t wait to have that blue light illuminate my audio environment!

The gain at which you can set this preamp, and have it just briefly go red from time to time, is the ideal; and it varies massively according to what album you're playing. Mostly Gain +4 is OK for even the loudest record, but some of my records don't even flicker at +10. I have taken to watching the clipping light carefully and writing down the ideal gain on the inner sleeve. I don't know if that is considered idiocy, but I find it works for me.

That is sooo freaking bright. It might even shine through black electrical tape!

I also have one and love it. You're exactly right with respect to the gain control. The included documentation basically tells you to set it at the point where the LED just barely flickers red on loud passages. And, as you said, that level is going to vary from album to album and cartridge to cartridge. Amazon frequently runs this thing at $49, and IMO, it would be a solid deal at twice the price.

I was running two tunrtables, one set up via the ART DJPre II and the other to the phono input of my Rotel amplifier. I set my gain to match the gain of the ART DJPre of my phono stage of my Rotel RA-413, so that I could switch from turntable to turntable without one sounding louder than the other. There are a a lot of gripes about the blue light, just paint it black!

I put mine at the same starting position.. around +3. Love that little preamp. I find if I push it a little with the red popping on now and then I can set my Sony receiver on direct and bypass the eq section straight into my Polk Monitor B's and crank em' up baby! :)

Black nail polish from Dollar Tree will take care of the blue led for good

re: the light, "It's relentless!" LOL!! Best comment! :D

I have the same pre amp with my Denon DF-300F,thanks for the tips.Damn that blue led :)

After much research I recently acquired an ART DJpreII myself and im extremely pleased with it. Its more versatile and adaptable than most, sounds great to me and seems well made. I do agree the blue LED is my only real negative, all they really needed to put here was a smaller LED and place it behind a tiny pinhole leaving a much tinier and less obtrusive power indicator. I may even open mine up and see if I can somehow place a piece of material with a pin hole in front of the LED and see how that looks. Far as the PreII's performance im totally satisfied with the sound and quality of it, this ones really hard to beat in its price range - in fact ive seen it sound tested against a Shitt Mani which costs twice as much and I have to say im sure glad I didnt blow $130 on the Shitt Mani, the sound difference is way too small to justify paying doube the price.

I used a small piece of white heat-shrink tubing to make a sort of "cone" that friction fits over that blue beacon. Now it's tolerable. I like this unit, it performs above my expectations. The odd shape of this pre-amp, and no power switch, leaves me wondering though.

Thanks

That’s a really nice looking onkyo receiver , how would you say it performs? I’m trying to explore more models in the 80/90s they’re not all trash

Does the amp that you’re using have a phono input & you’re just choosing to use the preamp ? Asking because I have a Sansui 4000 , but wouldn’t mind trying this preamp out to see if I can boost quality of sound by plugging preamp into different input . TIA

You can tone down the brightness of the LED by adding a 1k 1/8 watt resistor across the leads of the LED.

That is the very first blue sun of death ive ever seen---- try TIG welding with it I bet it would do a good job. This thing should come with UV/IR eye protection to keep your retinas from being seared through out the back of your skull....lol

I bought one of these several years back. Its very good IMO. With MNC I just add my SUT inbetween the deck and the DJ pre IIGaiun control - supposedly the higher the gain the less Noise (better SN) - Like Taope decks of old - Green flashing and even on is fine - it has a lot of headroom so occasional Red flashing is not too serious maybe gently back off a whisker. I have run it flashing a lot of red and there is no audible distortion but I am sure if you pushed it too hard to could get a little. The CXapacitence switch is helpfull - check the spec requirements for your cartridge applies more to MM type cartridges then MC - 200 will lift the high presence mid treble a little and slightly roll off the extreme top - 100 is flatter - but certain cartridges I have used sound more musical on 200. Low cut? - I never use it! I have not found the need to - but switching it in with a good recording cuts some of the low end - basically reduces most of what my Sub is doing! Sounds just fine with it our...personal choice SQ is very good and I have run comparions with all sorts of other sources and tthe TT stands up really well with it

The first thing I would do is replace the current-limiting resistor going to that blue LED with a much higher value.

you want to hear an even more drastic improvement try using a 12 volt power supply instead of the supplied 9 volt version. I read about this and had to try it myself and was amazed!

I put two layers of Post It notes over that Blue light. It is blinding without something to cover it over.

I have this preamp on my 3rd system, other 2 systems much better components. It's quiet and sounds really good but hate the lights so I replaced the power LED with a soft green and removed the 2 amber LEDs behind the switches. I will be adding a power switch and oh I am running 12 Volt DC. Setup = OM2 Black on SL1200 MK1 to DJ Pro to Anthem MRX520 to NAD C270 to Mirage OMNI 250. This was supposed to be a temp preamp but I am in no rush to replace/ Lesson learnt, don't judge a book by it's price.

Thats funny I have that bright blue light covered with Duct tape and can still see it. I love mine any way though and have been more than happy with it... sound settings might also depend on the production of the the record played. I set mine at 0 and adjust from there once music has started.

I currently use this preamp to connect my technics sl-d20 to some logitech speakers (until i can invest in an audio interface and speakers), and i hear a slight hiss from records. Do you think this is due to me not grounding the preamp, and if so, if there anywhere else i can connect the preamp ground to since logitech speakers dont have one?

Set the fain where it sounds right. Having spent years with it, ive found no more than 10-11 o'clock on the dial is right. Push it too much and it starts losing dynamics. Cart dependant somewhat though. Edited for spelling lol.

Will ceramic cartridges with an output of 0.5v / 500mv work with this pre-amp?

Gain control can be kept low you want to turn the amplifier up not the gain control on the phono stage

OK !

I have 6 dj pre's on the front of my car as my headlights

Hi! Hoping someone can help me with some issues I’m having in regards to this particular preamp. I just got one yesterday and tried to use it with my audio technica lp-120. I switched the line/phono switch on the back to phono and ran the audio wires from my turntable into the preamp & then from preamp into my Samsung MX-HS9000. This resulted in zero sound. I’m wondering if it my stereo (which doesn’t say phono on any of its inputs). Or maybe that it’s because I have no idea how grounding works. Either way, thanks in advance for any help/tips.

I'm extremely sensitive to clipping. A handheld AM transistor radio becomes painful when it clips at 1 watt. I don’t understand why most people can't hear clipping, and I feel like my eardrums are getting shredded.

IF you have a wife or daughter, Throw some nail polish on that blue light to reduce the illumination.

It won’t stop 😂

incredible that everybody quacks about the blue led but nobody will advice how to use the capacitance button. what is it: 100 or 200?

I'd open it up and replace the led

in what position: 100 or 200?

I'm not sure why the blue light would bother anybody why would you be staring at it while listening to music anyway? I have this preamp but I just don't look at the light.

Put a piece of tape. This is a light review?

where is a music?

Stop complaining about the blue light and just put some electrical tape over it lololololol

Sound kind of whiney.