Phono Preamp price range $2000-$4000

Tubes v. solid state will come down to personal preference and system synergy.

Especially with LOMC carts, you will want to be attentive to a tube phono stage's noise floor. But many tube phonos are nice and quiet (the Chinook for example). I agree that for a phono stage tube life will not be a real concern, due to the signal sizes involved.

Most of the solid stage vs. tube trade-offs apply for phono stages. But there is also the caveat that some tube gear can sound quite similar to solid state and vice versa.

Happy hunting.

It's ALL about the sound. All these side discussions are meaningless. Top quality phono stages overcome most of the weaknesses noted here.

Stick with a top brand and listen for yourself. All the opinions here don't mean anything. It's how a unit performs in YOUR system with YOUR cartridge and YOUR preamp that counts.

I played a Shelter 9000 through a K&K Audio phono pre ( the first complete kit sold BTW) that had been fully upgraded to Maxed Out status. A very good sounding combination, although you would need custom load resistors ( I chose resistors that would present 37R, 39R and 42R load to the cart.). The new Maxed Out with the shunt regulated power supply is even better. I added shunt reg. to the above phono pre that now belongs to a friend and the difference is dramatic. Kevin could build you a Maxed Out with in your price range, as long as you don't opt for the silver input transformers ;~)

Great! I guess i have enough information for choosing phono. Thanks.

I can't imagine a better phono pre in that price range than the Zesto Andros 1.2.... I'm sure it could be had around 4K if you shop around.....
Many improvements over the prior model, which already had won every review award there is.....