Phono stages belong to which tier?

I have had quite a few phono stages over the years in my systems and in general tube based amps seem to provide the organic texture that dovetails with the vinyl experience. Having said that, more recent design SS stages that I have had really perpetuate the positive aspects of SS:- taught lean base, extended highs, lots of detail etc. etc.. The PS Audio GCPH and Pathos Inthegroove Mk 2and ZYX phono stages are extremely acceptable and competitive - they are also relatively affordable and a great bang for the buck and you could live with any of these IMHO.

On the tube front I am going to be contrary minded to many opinions here and put in a plug for the ARC PH3 SE. Lots of air, some nice bloom, plenty of drive and a very satisfying phono stage. It is not "dry" as some have said, but it is fast and accurate. In the same league is the Sonic Frontiers Phono 1SE (not the earlier SF models).A great phono stage and one of the quietest around for tube designs - I sold it to help pay for my Aesthetix IO and sometimes I wish I had not needed to do that to keep the boss happy.

These days I am very happy with my IO SIg, but the Allnic products have a great reputation and have the Albert Porters of this world signed up. I will try one of these shortly.

I would also like to mention the less discussed topic of pre/head amps.I have selectable impedance transformer based loading into my IO and that can make a much greater impact than most pay attention to as well as reducing noise.

If you like vintage Japanese equipment, their phono loading preamps can be very seductive and provide a lot of sublime texture not always built in to today's modern designs which go for low noise and dynamic headroom first. My current pride and joy is an Accuphase C-17 head amp and my ZYX UNIverse has never sounded better - including loading thru my ZYX pre-pre.

As always in audio, a journey with no absolute correct way forward.

Steve

On the tube side

First Tier Class A
ASR Basis Exclusive 2010 or any prior version

No question about it.

One of my audiobuddies owned a ASR Basis Exclusive. He sold it for a Audia Flight phono.

The Audio Flight is superior in every music making aspect. I gotta hear the Audia Flight myself

Anyone heard the Wavestream Kinetics phono stage?

I tried EAR 324 and Asthetix Rhea with my ASR II Exclusive. Asthetix was terrible. However, without any previous listening test, my Asthetix dealer warned me that he think it would be a poor match to ASR according to input impedance on ASR and output impedance on Rhea. He even told me that I would waste my time trying but I was curious so I tried anyhow. He was right. If his theory was right, in my system, I can also rule out Audio Research, Pass, Lamm, Leben and most other tube phonos that I could find spec as well. EAR 324 was much better match (according to its output impedance and listening test) but when using MC cartridge (Ortofon Jubilee at that time), I much preferred using Ortofon T100 SUT into EAR MM input rather than directly into its MC input. Then I tried ASR Mini Basis with Ortofon SUT and I found that EAR/Ortofon was not any better than ASR Mini Basis/Ortofon in my system. ASR Mini Basis MC input is not bad either. However, it is very likely that ASR phono and amp may have special synergy and in different system, it might not be as close a call. Now I have ASR Basis Exclusive 2010 on order.
Basically it is not enough to just list the best phono as much will also depends on the rest of your system as well.