I realize this thread is a few years old but I would love to hear a follow up on your XP-17, assuming you did end up getting one from Reno?
@hpower, yes I did get it from Reno. All I can tell you is that I’m very happy with it. Sounds great, handles all my carts with ease, but as @dgarretson pointed out it is a little noisy with extremely low output MCs. Doesn’t bother me as I don’t use my Ortofon A95 too often, and even when I do I’m far enough away from my speakers to keep it from being an issue. Its sound fits my system very nicely. While I’ve heard the Modwright at shows (very nice), I don’t have any side by side experience with it.