Your Ultimate Phono Preamp: Which One Would You Choose?

In the middle '70s Tom Holman looked at the interactions between phone carts and preamps and designed a photo stage that addressed those, and many other issues including an 18dB/octave subsonic filter that effectively kills low frequency woofer flop.That was the Apt 1, and to my ear, a revolution. He combined that with the most intelligent and useful control section I've ever found, like the A-B/AB/A+B knob that let's you dial the image in like nothing else.  thorough makeover a few years back, and it is as extraordinary as ever. 

I am a fan of Michael Fremmer. Believe his current phono stage is the CH Precision P10. Think it is about $80K

It was not $80k to him, I guess, or he would've never bought it. He knows all too well that the very best phono stages are tube not transistor ones. Unless he lost his hearing, which is a possibility.

Apt 1 was a great preamp in the day.   I bought one used , it was my first real preamp.   I regret selling that and the Amp 1

I'm very happy with my GoldNote PH-10 w/PSU-10. I'm using balanced outputs, and it is dead quiet.

I was recently tempted by a killer deal on PH-1000 but I've got other priorities right now.

Now I'm intrigued by the BMC MCCI and glad the extra one that @blisshifi had for sale sold so quickly, or I might have jumped on it and then had some splainin' to do when my wife got home.