I had the sonic Frontier Phono 1 with the same tubes E188CC that my PH7, you can't compare those 2 phono stage, the sonic frontier doesn't make the music that the PH7 is able to do. I also had an audio research phono ref2 and I keep my PH7. Of course the 68db of the ref2 is fine on paper but there was less music out of the ref2,,, and I don't know why... but it's not a question of number on paper and kind of tubes.... the probleme is to get those components at home for a few days and make some A-B tests,,, and don't think about he price they cost, because more expensive doesn't mean better