Your Ultimate Phono Preamp: Which One Would You Choose?

I’ve never heard another good phono stage w/ my t vinyl set up so I can’t say it’s better or worse than anything else mentioned but I’ve really enjoyed my Art  Audio Vinyl One for over 20 years & it’s still in production today. It’s tubed, plenty of variable gain for low output MC’s , built well & sounds great. I think it’s about $7500 today. 

In the middle '70s Tom Holman looked at the interactions between phone carts and preamps and designed a photo stage that addressed those, and many other issues including an 18dB/octave subsonic filter that effectively kills low frequency woofer flop.That was the Apt 1, and to my ear, a revolution. He combined that with the most intelligent and useful control section I've ever found, like the A-B/AB/A+B knob that let's you dial the image in like nothing else.  thorough makeover a few years back, and it is as extraordinary as ever. 

I am a fan of Michael Fremmer. Believe his current phono stage is the CH Precision P10. Think it is about $80K

It was not $80k to him, I guess, or he would've never bought it. He knows all too well that the very best phono stages are tube not transistor ones. Unless he lost his hearing, which is a possibility.

Apt 1 was a great preamp in the day.   I bought one used , it was my first real preamp.   I regret selling that and the Amp 1