Schiit Mani - Sent in for repair, no response. Looking for rec's on a replacement preamp

I don’t have experience with those units, but by all accounts they are all very nice. BUT you’ll want to be very careful in matching phono stage to your cartridge -- while ALSO considering future cartridge upgrades; again, your Prime deserves it!

You’re currently using a 5mV MM cart, and that ARC’s gain of 57.5 dB is gonna be WAY too hot for that. That’s far from optimal, for both the phono stage and the downstream preamp (no overload headroom). However, that ARC would be perfect for MC cartridges with outputs from roughly 0.45 mV to 1.0 mV, for which I believe there are many fine choices e.g. Clearaudio, Ortofon Cadenza, Lyra, Benz "medium" output models, etc.

The 834p will do fine in MM mode with MM carts. For MC carts, this unit is said to be improved by bypassing its internal SUT with a higher quality outboard one. But besides that, its MC gain of 70dB might be just a bit too hot for the medium output MC carts that would’ve paired well with the ARC -- here you’d really want 0.2-0.4 mV carts, which is the territory of Koetsu Platinums, Ortofon Windfeld/A95/Anna, Benz "low" outputs, etc.

The Liberty unit is endlessly shilled by its maker here, but honestly it looks really darn versatile. If I had to guess from its specs, it will pair well with a wider range of cartridges than the other 2 stages. Though I love a good tube stage (I run a Rogue Ares Magnum, which I think is fabulous), I’d be tempted by this one in your shoes, given these 3 options. But also, maybe look at the Rogue Triton and Ares.

My Ares has a similar gain structure to that EAR unit (72 dB in MC mode), and it pairs brilliantly with a 0.3mV Koetsu. With a 0.45 mV Ortofon Cadenza it's still good, but slightly suboptimal; that same Cadenza shines on a 60 dB Sonic Frontiers Phono 1. But of course, the Koetsu lacks dynamics and sounds rather lifeless on that Sonic Frontiers!

@mulveling  thank you!  I just found a Manley Chinook on here :-)  I sent a message to the seller regarding what else is included (ie type of tubes, packaging).  Hopefully it's still available.  Once he answers back I'll make him an offer, hopefully this time I will get it!

 After the Chinook I'll look into replacing the Nagaoka with a quality MC, the carts you mentioned are out of my budget until I'm rich, but I'll spring for a cart in the 1k region.  

Really appreciate all the guidance you and the rest of the folks on here have given me.  Kudos to all of you!

This is a real late reply but just my two cents: as to Schiit not answering their phone etc., I find that to be a little sad. If one has ever dealt with Rogue and called them you always get a real person. Heck, I even had Mark O'Brien answer and he is the freakin' owner! More companies could take a lesson from Rogue.
Another two cent opinion, and it is this (and someone else commented on this very fact): the Mani, while it may be very good for its price, it is an entry level piece, for people with entry level turntables. If you are using a good table and cartridge, you do owe it to yourself to stretch and get a decent phono preamp. I too have tried to find that "giant killer" for a next to nothing price, and it is not there. Once I realized that and spent some money for a phono preamp with good power supplies and some flexibility, I heard a lot more and realized what I had been missing. More often than not you do get what you pay for...

@zkidd I settled on a Tavish Adagio phone pre and I love it.