Best value phono $1-1.5k

Piedpiper
Heed is in the right price bracket and the review sounds interesting though I've never heard of it before. How does it compare with other phonos like the PS Audio?

The Heed is an extraordinary value IMHO; very neutral, perhaps erroring slightly, if at all, on the side of "musicality", with no noticeable additive undesirables, and extremely flexible; bettering most phono stages up to $3k. An excellent company for cost effective compact solid state electronics, very well known in Europe but not so well known here yet. I have not compared the PS Audio directly. I would guess a more interesting comparison might be the newer Musical Surroundings Nova Phonomena, but again, I'm guessing the Heed would win out there as well. I plan on making both those comparisons in the near future.

dealer disclosure

Piedpiper
RE: Heed Quasar, have you heard it compared with your Hagerman Trumpet then?

Otherwise, which TT playback system did you listen/demo the Quasar?

I have demoed it here in my own system, compared to my (upgraded caps, nude Vishay loading resisters and other tweeks) Trumpet. As you might expect, the Trumpet had that special tube magic, with a bit more textural finesse; but the Quasar was very nice indeed, much quieter and was much more flexible in terms of gain and loading.

Which unit was more dynamic?
Which had a bigger soundstage?