I would have used it as a preamp if I were keeping it. I am back to doing that with my SS 302. For some reason, it seemed the 302 and my preamp were interacting causing a hum when I used the 302 as a phono or used a separate phono pre. Now that the preamp is out of the system, the phono noise level is down to what I consider acceptable. I think what little is left will be eliminated once I add a step up to the set up.