What's A Good Upgrade From A Manley Steelhead?

A new belt is about the only thing that would be needed to keep the Basis in fine fiddle.  I own a Basis and I have heard the Phantom on a different Basis table.  Both the arm and the Basis table are designed to maximize damping of vibration, both from external sources and the vibration caused by the stylus tracking the groove.  The sound of this combination is clear, composed, and quiet (very good at even suppressing the sound of ticks and pops because the sound passes quickly instead of resonating).  I personally like this sound at it works well in my very dynamic sounding system (horn-based speakers).  

But, this sound is not for everyone and every system and I understand those who call this sound "dead."  It is entirely valid to prefer something that sounds more lively and "jumpy."  If you want to mix things up a bit, it would be nice to also have something like a good vintage idler drive table like the Garrard 301 or 401 or Thorens TD 124 or the three motor belt drive Audio Note table.  These, with the right arm are more lively sounding than the Basis/Graham Phantom combination--i.e., different, not necessarily better.  At this level, it is more a matter of different taste than something being better than another.  The same is true with the original issue of choice of phono stage; it is hard to say that something would be considerably better than the Steelhead.

@tomic601 Thanks for the input. I did just replace a Graham 2.2 with the Phantom B44 and it was a very worthwhile improvement. I will continue to monitor the used markets for a Phantom Elite. I did email Graham Engineering a few days ago requesting information on their dealer locations so I could perhaps work through a dealer on stepping up the line, but so far they haven't written back.

I'm OK with setup, particularly with the Graham arms as they're so easy to do. (there's a simple cartridge alignment jig that makes things almost foolproof).

I have the Feickert alignment jig also but haven't needed it since selling my Feickert Woodpecker.

I'm on JR's email list and get frequent updates but so far I haven't spoken with him. It's something I might consider once I settle finally on an arm and cartridge. 

@larryi I wrote to Basis a couple of weeks back and got a quote from Alex for a new belt. 

I hear you on the sonic signature of the Basis deck. I also like it. A while back I had an Origin Live Resolution and a Feickert Volare side by side and found the OL deck to be highly resolving of detail, dynamic, a little on the lean side, but excellent overall, whereas the Feickert had more weight and authority, more meat on the bones, but sounded a little dark and dry. I think the Basis setup is more balanced, overall, and combines the virtues of the other two decks pretty well.

I’d like to try a Garrard deck at some point, but it’s lower down on the list for now.

Thanks for the input.

This might be extreme overkill, particularly in terms of the blinged-out looks, but the Artisan Fidelity reconditioned Garrard 401 is something to aspire to:

https://www.artisanfidelity.com/new-products/garrard-401-statement#:~:text=Garrard%20401%20Statement%20by%20Artisan,its%2012%20year%20production%20run.

ASR Basis Exclusive;