Can anyone recommend a Phono Pre Amp?

Years ago I was loaned a Phenomenon while I waited for the phono pre I had ordered. I had this for a couple of weeks and liked it, neutral sound, quiet, got the job done. Good value for the money as is the Musical Fidelity pre. But now I have two EAR 834Ps, one in each system, and they are very satisfying. If ever I upgrade it will be to a Manley Steelhead or equivalent, the EARs are that good. I second Eweedhome's recommendation on this one.

If you didn't edginess and lots of detail I would stay away from the JLTI. It is a very detailed and accurate phonostage with great pacing and drive as restock says, but it also has some harshness to it (almost like a digital glare) that ,in my opinion, would make it hard to live with for an extended period (the XONO is similar in quality, but is much more musical).
The Dynavector is okay, but not when compared to others at the same price level.
I have the ARC PH3SE and love it - it has a great balance between detail retrieval, soundstaging (very deep!) and musicality.

I agree with Manitsory on the JLTI. I find it a little grainy/etchy sounding. Too "hi-fi" for my taste.

For less money and better sonics the Graham Slee Era Gold Mark V and Revelation are much better IMO.

Audiofeil, I didn't think the JLTI is at all grainy or edgy on top. However, the JLTI is high bandwidth and appears much more extended than most phono stages at first listen. It opens the soundstage deep into the corners reproducing a lot of the acoustics of the recording studio/hall. Also, the power supply is pretty sensitive and the sound changes quite a bit depending on where it is plugged in. The main shortcoming I find with the JLTI is that it doesn't quite have the strong tonal colors you get with top tube phono stages or even the Xono. Tonal colors could seem a little bleached at times. In terms of spatial resolution and image separation it is difficult to beat.

We tried the Graham Slee Era Gold Mark V and is fairly average in resolution for it's price and not quite in the league of the JLTI or some of the other we tried. One comparison was using the Graham Slee Era Gold Mark V with a Lundahl step-up and a Lyra Argo cartridge. The other was MM only with a Dynavector 10x5 cartridge. On the MC with Lundahls the Slee did not have the spatial resolution, dynamics or to end extension that make the Lyra cartridge special. Using the Dynavector the Gram Slee was pretty average sounding, not that great resolution and average soundstage width/depth. The JLTI added a lot more life, extension, and resolution to that system. In fact. the person owning the Slee sold it pretty quickly after that.

Part of the negative experience with the Slee could have been that we didn't have the Elevator around, but then in MM mode it didn't do much better.

Also some more comments for Zeal: If you are looking for a less dry sound a tube phono would be a good alternative:

ARC PH3SE has good flow and is pretty solid performer overall, although quite a bit more expensive than some of the other suggestions. It doesn't come close to the resolution, dynamics and separation between instruments off some of the solid state stages though.

A good alternative to the EAR834 is the Wright WPP200CC at $800.Both have a very tubelike sound. The Wright is more dynamic and detailed with slightly better imaging. The Arc PH3 betters both, but also sacrifices some of the tube bloom and midrange of the Wright.