Best cost no object tube phono


Hi Agoners,


just upgraded everything to SS Accuphase, loving it and have no intention to go back to tube pre/power. However, I have to admit that I miss a bit of tube sweetness particularly on mid. What is the best cost no object tube phono stage?

Thanks in advance for any advices
uwiikz
I have heard a decent line up of Phonostages over the years.
I have gone out of my way to listen to them in all design Topologies,
SS, Valve Hybrid and Valve Input/Output.

I listen with my ears and not the Math, even though tweaking the loadings is a useful option.

I am a Tube Amp person, but failed for many years of investigation to discover Tube Phonostage Designs that were offering a acceptable Transparency, and did not get to be trialled in my system.

There are Tube Phonostages available 'now' that offer to me everything I have been on a quest for.
As a result I have in use today, a Valve Hybrid and Valve Input/ Output Phonostage available for use in my system.

If I were to decide on one only it would be a Valve Onput/ Output with SUT.
My experience of Valve Phon's is that there is a market catered for that very much enjoys a catering for those who seek a obvious 'richness' in a presentation.
This leaves a broad avenue for assessments, one mans Nirvana (Richness) is for sure another mans Nemesis if seeking (Transparent) .  
The best phono stages I have ever heard are the Atma-sphere MP1, Raul’s and Jose’s 3160 phono line preamp, and the Ypsilon phono stage, if you only need enough gain for MM cartridges. With modifications to its output stage, I would add the Manley steelhead version 2.0 to that list. I have never heard the Wave Kinetics phono stage, and I looked hard to find one on the used market the last time I was shopping, but I would sure like to hear it.
So on my list I have all-tube, all-ss, and hybrid designs. I have heard the Io, the Dolshi (not the latest), and a few other highly regarded ones, and in my opinion they fall a little short of the ones I like best, mostly due to noise. I have also owned two different examples of the MFA luminescence, and those did not rise to the highest level. I never heard the “legendary” CTC blowtorch or the Vendetta.
@tablejockey I have the Icon PS2 MM Pre in my system and it is fantastic.

Have Thorens TD145 with a MP200 cartridge.

Great combination.