Valve phono stage

A few years ago  people raved about the 22 tubed NVO. Might be worth looking into.

The Tavish is awesome is as good as the LKV 2SB I compared it to,  very neutral I sent it back I wanted something more tubey if you will. I have the Rogue Ares Magnum which is very good also uses 12ax7 with 12au7 tubes excellent dynamics, warmth and sound stage

@lewm - thank you, appreciate your explanation. 

@almarg - & thanks also, informative. 

Keith told me -

 "A good fully shielded RCA to RCA interconnect from the turntable can give great sound with no hum and noise. It is the quality of the electronics makes a huge difference in the sound."

@rsf507 - funny you should mention that as a dealer offered me a used one!

The rogue ares magnum is excellent and if you can pick one up on the used 😀

What about a BAT VK-P6, standard or SE. It uses tubes, and has balanced outputs. I picked up a VK-51 preamp recently, and am stunned by it.