Manley Chinook to Aesthetix Rhea Signature?

I had an Aesthetix Rhea signature phono stage. The Hana at .4 mv will have enough output to get above the noise floor. If you had a higher output MC like a Koetsu Black at ,6 mv or a EMT at 1,0 mv that would be better. The Aesthetix is a great sounding phono stage. But IMO is better with a higher output MC.

I have not heard the Chinook, but in general I am not a fan of the FET front end and prefer a SUT or something like the Aesthetix  with pure tube gain.

The EMT cartridges are great and a bargain in high end cartridges

@noromance that's one the one I was eyeing. I'm not sure I'd be willing to spend that much for a new model to be completely honest. 

The Chinook is a great phono stage for the money. Yes, the Herron is better. I had to spend a lot more to better the Herron.

Sorry, I have not heard any Aesthetix products. In that price range, I would suggest auditioning a Zesto Audio phono stage.

@j-wall Nothing wrong with a good used example especially at half price!

Note the Herron VTPH-2A is no longer made.

@noromance that's exactly why I'm not considering it sadly. I'd love to own one and had my chance, but here we are. I guess it may just be a dive in and see or wait for something interesting to pop up! Any other suggestions I'm open to. Man there's just a huge gap from the $2k Chinook to a $10k ARC.