This is a long thread with a lot of technical info added in for fun; but my take on phono preamps is based on a shoot out I had with a grouping of mid range priced units. The price range was $1500 to $4K with some $2.5K stuff in the middle and one lower priced straggler at $700 for fun.
Hands down, as in no competition, The Whest Three Signature blew the others out of the water. It had huge dynamic range, very powerful low end which was crisp and wonderful smooth mids to upper range. It just did it all and very well.
I brought in a Whest 2019 PS.30 RDT SE to compare against the Whest Three Signature, keep in mind this is much more expensive and it was customized by James for a 19 pf input capacitance with a special gain setting at 48 db to work seamlessly with an Audio Technica AT20ss vintage cartridge with a NOS original stylus on a Beryllium cantilever.
There is a definite similarity between the Three and the PS.30 RDT SE; you know that they were built by the same team. However the PS.30 RDT SE takes things up a notch in the detail it pulls from the recording. I'd say the Three is 95% of the 30; but it takes a lot more money to pick up another 5%. And to go up higher from the 30 to say the 40 series or even the Titan Pro will take a doubling of expenditure.
I'd say from what I have experienced, the Whest Phono stages are the top of the line.
