Phono stage for my system?

@sameyers1,
You should seriously look at the Whest Two in the used market. It’s based on the Whest Three, only it doesn’t have the fancy toroid external power supply in a dedicated chassis. But other wise, its not going to be too far off from the Three in performance. You can find these routinely for the $1000 budget you are trying to hit.  If you wanted to stretch things a bit, a nice used (if you can find one) Whest Three Signature will trade from $1800 to $2K and that is a steel as I have seen them go for more.

I have a new custom build 2019 Whest PS.30 RDT SE on the way from London shortly, it's being modified to accommodate my wonderful AT 20ss MM cartridge.  Nothing is changing on the MC side, it's just having the input capacitance trimmed from 91 pf down to 20 pf so that my total input capacitance will run at 150 pf to match the AT 20ss specification and James is adding in a second gain setting for the MM side.  It will have both 43 db and 46 db as I find the 46 db works out great for my system; those are the two gain settings available in the Whest Three Signature.

Dear @sameyers1 : Now you have 3 excellent options: Linn, Ayre ( really good designs by Ayre ) and the Whest.

You can't go wrong with either of those units. Maybe your budget will decides for you. Good that you already own Ayre electronics somewhere in your system.

R.

I agree the Whest is a good solid choice but I would say I have NEVER seen one for sale at anywhere near 1k, usually much closer to $1500 to $1700 for the Whest Two.
But maybe I have sleeping and missed those bargains...….

I think I am talking about the older TWO, not the more Current model, but yes it may well be more.
When I get my new specially built Whest PS.30 RDT SE 2019 model in, I plan on doing a lot of a/b comparison work against my Whest Three Signature in order to really hear the differences in what it digs out.  A friend of mine may be buying the Three off of me, but if that doesn't happen, I'll be putting the Three up for sale as I don't really need two phono stages.  Although I am tempted to keep it as its so good.

@chakster  - you are right that everything is subjective and that I can't rely on other people.  I am not.  I am simply trying to narrow down the many choices that you note are available.  This forum has already helped in several ways.  It has provided feedback from people who use and presumably prefer Ayre Acoustics equipment, like most of what I own (pre-amp, CD player and DAC).  I value their impressions of the many phono stages they've owned or auditioned, since I have to assume they like the Ayre "house sound" as I do.

As someone who has not owned multiple phono stages, I have gotten some sense of the units that may be disappointing in the level of noise or detail compared to others.  That is useful in trying to narrow things down to say three options to audition.  With the number of decent audio dealers dwindling and with fewer still offering phono stages of any quality, I am likely going to have to purchase from an out-of-town dealer with a return policy, find a friend or acquaintance who will loan me his or her unit to try at home (I've already arranged that for the Ayre P-5xe), or take a risk on a pre-owned unit that is widely recommended (which I hesitate to do) or from a manufacturer with a "house sound" I like (e.g. the Linn Euphorik).

Finally, I've gotten confirmation that my cartridge is also likely part of the sound quality deficit I'm experiencing and I have found two reasonable options that I will try to audition in home before purchasing the phono stage, to see if one jumps out at me.

Your comments are true with respect to the purchase of any piece of audio equipment - pre-amp, amp, speakers, DAC, phono cartridge, etc.  There are too many choices to listen to them all.  And I may not like the same thing that others do.  But the whole point of anyone asking questions on this forum is to gain input that may help them to narrow the field as best they can.  That is a better option than just going to one or two local dealers who will try to sell you the lines they represent or relying solely on trade magazines that accept advertising from the manufacturers and who audition the products on equipment that bears no resemblance to what you own or like.