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Discontinued RIAA preamp models
All is not lost if your MC capable RIAA preamplifier only supports a limited set of impedances and this is you just need to connect a pair of resitors you will need and preferably a way to semi-permanetly fix it to the quality of the resistor you choose matters much more in this application than in many others, if you can get a resonably priced wound resistors in the correct values this would be ideal, but if such are not available to you locally or are too expencive a high quality low voltage metal film resistor will do as well, those should be available more or less everywhere.
Aaron
Made the legendary Phono Module between 1990 and 2002, this was one of the more expensive modules on the market and could be bought as a standalone model or as a variant that was powered by one of their amplifiers.
Audio Synthesis
Made the ADEQ kit in the 90's, it was based on a design by Ben Duncan that was published in HFNRR in 1989, it's was considered to be rather good at the time and one avid user and fan of the unit has a homepage dedicated to the units including details on some mods.
Candeias Engineering
Had a MM and MC capable high end preamps.
EMT Studiotechnik
Made a range of RIAA preamps, most if not all were made to fit into the frame of their turntables but will obviously be useable standalone (if a bit industrial in appearance). The 139 is a Mono valve based unit that would fit into the frames of the 927 and 930 and the 153st and the later 155st were stereo versions for the same frames.
Eymann
Made a high quality stereo RIAA preamp that fitted into a EMT 927 or 930 frame, named Type A 152 it was available from the late 60's into the late 70's and by some considered superior to the EMT offerings.
FM Acoustics
Replaced the Resolution Series 122 Precision Phono Linearizer/Preamplifier and the Resolution Series 222 Precision True Balanced Phono Linearizer/Preamplifier with MkII versions in 2002 or thereabouts, since they appear very similar to the current versions both visually and functionally, the company does not publish detailed technical specifications for the new models and I cannot afford any of their products, any comments on the differences between the original versions and the current MkII's would be pure speculation. You can find some information of the original versions along with a picture or two on this page. Note that the 222 does not come with a power supply, it meant do be driven by a FM 266 amp or a separate power supply such as the RS 202A.
Gray Research
Made a variety of phono equalisers/transformers for low impedance pickups, most of these were for transcription turntables and do not have the correct EQ for RIAA LP's but it's possible that units such as the 602C are usable, they do support LP playback in addition to transcription records but predate the RIAA standard (I am not sure how close the earlier AES LP standard was to RIAA).
Kinshaw Electronics
Made 2 models of phono stages namely the Overture and the Perception, the Overture was a fairly cheap model but the more expensive Perception was quite well known and liked in it's day, it was available with a built in power supply and in a high end version that has a separate power supply. In the last couple of years it was produced there was also a SE version of it available, although there are a few years since the company stopped production they still do repairs and can upgrade Perception units to the SE specifiction.
Mares Designs
Introduced the Connoisseur phonographic preamp in 1987, it was one of the most expensive models available in it's day and was unusual in that it had volume controls, it was meant as much to act as a preamplifier for a minimalist phono only audio system as a phono pre in itself, it's also unusual in that it's a partially PCB-less design, almost unheard of in modern designs. It was replaced in 92 by the Connosieur Model 2 which was a refinement of the original design that included improved parts and a Dual Mono configuration, got great reviews in the USA hi-fi press at it's introduction. The company has more information on their homepage on the Model 1 and Model 2.
Michell Engineering
Made the Iso HR. phonostage in the 90's and discontinued it around the turn of the century, much beloved in the UK but not often seen outside it.
Neumann
Made a range of valve based preamps in the 50's and 60's some of them are considered classics by now, the most famous one is probably the WV-2 rack model, it's so rare and sought after that is current price on the street is sometimes over € 8000 for a stereo pair (there were apparently a Mk1 and Mk2 of this model). More common are the SEV-2 and the SMB-2 stereo preamps, they are mostly identical except for the fact that the SMB has input transformers. They were made to be fitted into an EMT Studiotechnik frame such as the 930, but can of course be used independent from them.
PS Audio
Made one of the first separate preamps to be sold to audiophiles rather than just to the broadcast industry, the company has more info on their history page.
Russco Electronics
Made the Fidelity Master preamp in the 70's and possibly before and after that, as the unit was intended for use in radio stations it featured balanced outputs.
Shure Inc.
They had a 2 channel preamp made in the 70's that would only mate with MM carts but had low and high output options to enable the use of the unit directly to tape recorders, the name was simply Stereo Preamplifier.
Thorens
Made the MM 001 in the 90's, a fairly cheap but quite reasonable MM capable preamp.
Williams Hart Electronics
The predecessors to the current models of preamps were introduced in late 1992 as the "Shunt Feedback" Pickup Preamp by Linsay Hood (yup this is all that's on the unit, there in no manufacturers marking at all). These were available in 2 versions, the budget K1500 model that featured IC's and could thus be battery driven and was sold as a kit only and the 1450 that was all discrete and needed a power supply that was sold separately as the1565, those 2 were available both as kits and fully built.
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