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Not totally related to what you're asking but I just built a pair of CNC phono stages and OPS power supplies on a couple of boards supplied from a guy in India. They came out well and allowed me to dial in the gain I wanted by using specific resistor values. That allowed me to avoid preamps. I'm going through a DAC most of the time and largely use powered monitors, so I use a digital switching/mixing box to switch between sources. Obviously you're building an analog system so you need a different solution. The CNC+Power Supply cost around £150 each in total including the enclosure and interconnects. Audiokarma have a huge thread on it and quite a few on preamps active & passive.
Airhead-
my DAC has fixed/variable outputs - it's the phono that requires it. if the dac had an analogue input, it would be fine.
the stereo coffee boards look to be good value. i don't suppose you'd fancy building one for a fee?
http://hifiwigwam.com/forum/topic/82725-stereo-coffee-ldr/
BRM
I managed to get top dollar for some speakers and a TT on ebay, so i bought a hybrid power amp that is supposed be amazing. I am going to run the pioneer pre through it. it has a high/low gain switch, so it can be used with a passive pre. there are tisbury and the likes around for sub £100 and the LDRs look interesting.
i'd like to get a hybrid pre (with phono) to see what all the rage is about, but need to sell a few bits on first. i can't face selling the pioneer yet...