Hi Mike,
In my experience, the Hagerman Trumpet, Artemis Labs PL-1 and PH-1, along with the Quicksilver full function preamp have all made good sound in my rig.
You need to take with a grain of salt these three recommendations because I have either sold (or sell) two of the three, and know all three designers.
Another great tube phono stage comes from our buddy Ralph Karsten at Atmaspehere.
If you want to drop down in price, the EAR 834P and the Hagerman Coronet immediately come to mind.
Surely there are others ...
Audio Research comes to mind. It's been far too long since I've auditioned their gear (PH-3). Many on this list love their gear. In the context of my experience, I've been wholly underwhelmed by it and consider it to be "hi-fi" in the pejorative sense.
If your Audio Research gear makes magic for you, then ignore my comments. My experience is meaningless in the context of your system and what floats your boat.
Now, qualifying a tube phono stage is fraught with many of the same pitfalls inherent in selecting an ss phono stage (or any other component for that matter).
I've heard 5-figure, vacuum tube phono stages held in high regard by many which made me ask the question if the designer ever listened to real music.
This latter point is critical, especially if you're coming from digital. Many of the same pitfalls apply. You will audition gear that "sounds" good, but over time have you giving up listening to music.
This, to me is the fatal flaw of all digital that I've heard at any price. Many designers of all audio components, I fear have adopted a world-view positioned from this point of reference.
Unfortunately, while we can potentially quantify what's going on by looking at a 'scope (e.g. bandwidth, phase coherence, etc.), you may get distracted during an audition from what constitutes a musically meaningful component to you.
It's very easy to get distracted by "good sound", only to realize months later that this "good sound" is thoroughly uninvolving to the point that you stop powering up your system.
I know of no way to speed the process of culling the wheat from the chaff, which is unfortunately why you see so much gear up for sale.
Perhaps the best advice I can give comes from an old Linn brochure. Ask yourself if the band seems "on" today.
When people are truly captivated, a curious thing happens. They start to talk in the present tense about the performance. They have truly become transported across a space-time continuum. If this is happening to you, then you may well be on to something special.
The big caveat of course is that I could take a fairly pedestrian turntable/arm/cartridge and dial it in to make it sound quite special. Alternatively, I could take an outstanding analog rig, and by spinning a few knobs, make it sound quite pedestrian.
Your only hope is that the fellow demoing gear to you has a clue as to how to set up a turntable. Good luck on this one!
Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier
