There are a lot of good phono stages emerging in the $600-and-under category. For a long time Slee held the position for the $1K stage, but not necessarily the $500 one. Now there are many more and the Tube box is certainly one of them, but there are also the Creeks at $250 and $450 depending on whether you need MC or not, the new Grado PH-1, Musical Fidelity X-LPS V8, Clearaudio Smartphono, and especially, the Musical Surroundings Phonomena II, which has dual banks of DIP switches to optimize gain and resistance to a specific cartridge.
In its most recent analog issue, TAS seemed to really like the $600 Phonomena II, perhaps a bit better than the $925-1195 Slee Era Gold models.
In its most recent analog issue, TAS seemed to really like the $600 Phonomena II, perhaps a bit better than the $925-1195 Slee Era Gold models.