Phono stages belong to which tier?

Vertigo,
I partially agree.
I say that for a reason, here's an example, it wouldn't make sense to use a $150k turntable on a $1k speaker. Most of us here will make purchases in which all the components are in the same class. But let's say we have the priviledge of owning the best equipment out there, totalling $2 million or so hypothetically speaking. Each link of the audio chain coming from the finest makers. What if we experimented and were to remove one part at a time and replace it with a less regarded piece possibly costing less? When would we percieve the greatest difference? I would say with the speakers, but then it's relative, change the turntable and how big of a difference will be percieved?

Anyone have information about the new Parasound JC-3? For $2K it could be a nice unit.

Aesthetix io
Alaap MKII
Allnic h3000
ASR Exclusive
Atma-sphere mp-1
Audia Flight
Audio Reference 2
Dartzeel nhb-18ns
Essential 3160
Einstein Balanced
FM Acoustic
Klyne 7x 3.5
Lamm Lp2
Lyra 4.2p se
Manley Steelhead
Messenger
Nagra Vps
Tron Seven signature
TW Acustic
Wavestream Kinetics
Walker
Zanden 1200

John Curl is being John Curl, that's a positive, ringing out the best performance possible before he'll release it for production. It should good! You'll notice that his designs are SOTA but also remain that way for years without rev after rev. I'm really looking forward to getting one.

Gerry,
Are you still happy with the Wavestream phono stage?  I'm considering it as well as an ASR Basis.  How is the background noise level (tube rush, etc.) of the Wavestream?

Thanks in advance,
AC