Dear Mark, Am I correct in thinking that you assume your Whest phono stage uses balanced circuits? I ask, because to the best of my ability to investigate it, back when I myself was in a buying mode, the Whest is not balanced. It may have XLR output jacks, but so far as I could tell, the RIAA correction and amplification circuits inside are not true balanced topology. The Whest website is not very helpful in any way to figure this out. This is not to say that it cannot sound great. Just something to keep in mind.
If you are a novice with electronics, and if you don't own proper test equipment, there is no way you can very easily check out a phono stage. But since your only problem appears to be hum and/or noise, first thing to do would be to define the problem a little better. For example, "hum" has a certain meaning, usually a 60Hz or 120Hz tone. Usually the presence of hum indicates a grounding problem. Other kinds of noise might require the attention of a competent tech in order to eliminate it, but no reason to dump the Whest just for that, IMO.
If you are a novice with electronics, and if you don't own proper test equipment, there is no way you can very easily check out a phono stage. But since your only problem appears to be hum and/or noise, first thing to do would be to define the problem a little better. For example, "hum" has a certain meaning, usually a 60Hz or 120Hz tone. Usually the presence of hum indicates a grounding problem. Other kinds of noise might require the attention of a competent tech in order to eliminate it, but no reason to dump the Whest just for that, IMO.