$2500 Phono Stage Suggestions

+1 for the K&K Maxxed Out phonostage I had the the latest iteration of the Maxxed Out until about a year ago and in a word (which is useless when trying to describe this unit)was UTTERLY FABULOUS! Fast forward to August, I had Kevin install the latest updates... sorry I can't help the cliches but it IS AN ALTOGETHER different phonstage.Honestly I can't say that I've fully even broke it in, all work you know. Do yourself a favor and at least audition one and see if it's your flavor.
Also not sure if many current Maxxed owners know ,Kevin has developed a new face plate that encompasses polarity,stereo mono, mute and switching between the MM section and the MC section all on the front panel,PLUS,,,, are you read for this? variable loading and capacitance for the MM section.
prior to having decided to upgrade to the latest revision I have always tried to have current owners explain just what was gained, I NEVER got a straight quantitative,or qualitative answer, now I totally understand it's..... (sigh)

David and Jeff,

Glad you guys are (finally (!)) enjoying the fruits of that very important upgrade. It really elevates the K&K to a new level. Of course, anyone buying a new unit will already have this installed. Cheers,

-Richard

i say keep the whestTWO and get a better cartridge. My son is using the whestTWO with a dynavector XX2 Mk2 and its bloody good. changing the 2M now seems a bit wrong. If you have to upgrade get a Whest PS.30R

I upgraded my Rhea to the Signature series.  I did not note any significant improvement, but bear in mind there was no direct comparison, since it was a month from the time it was sent in to the time I got it back with the upgrade.  When I needed a repair, I sent it to Aesthetix again and I was told they had another upgrade.  Since it was already at the factory, I thought I would give it a chance--a gamble, since the upgrade to the Eclipse model was $3,500.  Well, notwithstanding the inability to do a direct comparison due to the time delay, I noted an amazing improvement.  This is an amazing phono preamp.  I should note, however, that I had also changed the tubes from the stock tubes (Russian) to NOS Telefunkens.

At your price point and based on what you are looking for, I would recommend a tube-based phono stage instead of the op-amp/solid state phono stages you mention.