The best phono stage out there?

I heard the Audio Valve Sunilda this weekend and it's quite impressive. Eye candy as well.

There's been other posts regarding their linestage called Eklipse (sp) but that was not available for audition.

Disclaimer: no financial interest

In regards to battery powered phono stages, I would be grateful if anyone who has had a Sutherland Phd and has moved on to another phono stage could outline their reasons for doing so. Whenever the Phd gets discussed, it's quietness appears to be it's main strength. Would this not be the case for all other battery powered phonostages?

Thank you for the many responses. There are a few recurring names that I will try to get a hold of for audition in my system.

Noise floor is not the final word in phono stages by any means. Some phono stages are quiet, until you put on a record and realize that there are an awful lot of ticks and pops. Other phono stages (usually ones with passive EQ) may have a slightly higher noise spec but will not play the ticks and pops so bad, even though they have the same bandwidth (IOW its not a function of high frequency response).

Since these are subjective issues not easily measured on the bench, there is no specification that will let you know how badly a phono section will exacerbate surface noise- you just have to compare them.

IMO/IME this is an important quality of the 'best' phono stage...

Atmasphere, that is a very good point. To be honest, I was not aware that different phono stages could affect loudness of ticks and pops separate to their noise floor. In such a situation is the audio signal also negatively affected?? How can a amplification device distinguish between a surface noise pop and a "music" pop (please pardon my ignorance if this question reveals a basic lack of understanding on my part).
Which phono stage are really good at reducing surface noises Which phono stage do you use.

Thanks

Ecka, I have owned my Sutherland PhD for a good two years now. The Sutherland PhD IMO does many things well.

Atmasphere of course brings up good points, and I'll agree wholeheartedly, a world class phono stage cannot just be judged by that it does one thing right.

In the course of the past two years, there have been three different Cartridges in my system, a 9-10 year old Benz Micro Glider, which had new life, when the Sutherland was inserted into the system. Then I moved onto the Benz Ruby 3. Of course a better Cartridge, which IMO possessed many similar traits of the Glider, retaining much of that "Benz House Sound", but with some better refinement, and purity of sound.

Then, on a whim, I moved to a new ZYX Airy 3X SB low output Cartridge. Here, was where I finally seen just how well the Sutherland could play, as my pristine LPs took on a CD like quality of dead silence, both from groove silence, and as well, whenever there was the slight tick, or pop on an LP, these were then placed much further in the background versus the other two Benz Cartridges.

There's no doubt about it, that Cartridges as well have a major influence on how a record will sound, and how they handle surface noise, and defects in the groove.

I do believe in general, just like Cartridges, that you usually do get what you pay for, meaning that a $5,000 Phono Stage should outperform a $3,000 one, and usually has a better host of features as well.

Of course, it does too boil down to personal preference Some may try a Manley Steelhead, and come away saying that they didn't like it for whatever personal reasons, and particular likes. Synergy with other quipment is as well very important.

There is one man I know, who is a member here, Sunnyboy1956, who recently sold his Sutherland PhD, and moved onto the Nagra VPS Phono Stage. He uses a Michell Deck, a TriPlanar Arm, and Lyra Skala Cartridge.
Yes, he says the Nagra is an improvement over the Sutherland. Mark