Best Phono You've Heard Under $2200

Yes the Ayre P-5xe.

The Icon Audio Ps1 Mkii is outstanding. I just upgraded the tubes with 3 RCA NOS Black Plates from Brent Jesse and it was a huge improvement. 

@gochurchgo 

feel free to be excited.  the 20/20 sounds clean, dynamic, airy and energetic.  

good for all types of cartridges.  possibly better suited to a tube system or a more laid back cartridge and turntable, high mass belt drive .   an all solid state system may benefit more from a tube phono stage.  

what phono preamp do you have now?

@avanti1960   For the last like 5 years I have been using the Lounge LCR MKIII. It sounds fine and I have no issue with it. I forget about it sometimes but its not an endgame piece. Its never been upgraded and was bought when it was the darling of another forum.

It will go into a Quicksilver Linestage Preamp (12AT7 version with Mullard CV 4024s) and into an Odyssey Khartago (with upgrades). Phono and interconnects  are Audio Envy (speaker cables to come soon but currently Morrow SP-4's)

Keep it simple for MM or MI this is the best I have had the pleasure of owning and will never part with it.