Looking for phono stage recommendations

A vote for the Thor TA-3000. I can say I tried a number of different ones in my system before hearing the Thor and saying YES. It is my ears so take it with a grain of salt or two. I listened to the Rogue, Herron, Pass, and Conrad-Johnson. The later surprised me becuase my amp and preamp are C-J, but for a MC cartridge they just did not do the job, for me. I have a Zoethecus stand so the Aesthetix would not fit and was not listened to. Perhaps I should have listened to both the EAR and Manley which are highly regarded but I was tired of not really enjoying what I heard and less than five minutes was enough to convince me. Hope this helps.

Have you seen this written about the Eastern Electric MiniMax phono preamp.
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/viewtopic.php?t=17930
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/viewtopic.php?t=17811
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vinyl/messages/430272.html
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/viewtopic.php?t=18046
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/viewtopic.php?t=19844

Good luck in your searh.

The Burmester 808, is a awesome little unit. doesn't get much better, imo.

Check out the Klyne Audio Arts 7PX5. It's a solid state unit with a wide range of gain and load settings. Here's a link to their website but it hasn't been updated in a while. I'm using this with my Airy 3x SB with good results (although I only have about 20 hours on the cart). Mehran used to own a 7PX3 which is the previous model. List is about $5k but it's hardly seen in the used market.

http://www.klyne.com/

Nrchy,you are really cute!Why do I get the sneaky suspicion that you already know what you are going to buy before you post the question?Well you seem to be a good guy,so I'll play along,again.I have to admit that I love this anyway!!

I have heard that the All solid state and battery driven AR Basis is a Killer unit.This I have read in TAS.Recommended by HP,himself,as the best,as of last issue,and we all know that could change in a month.Just thought I'd throw it out there.

The only advice I can offer up,based on real experience is to REALLY be careful of the "latest hot product" issue.This is the plague of this hobby(remember TENOR).

Make sure the mfgr has a track record and will be around for a while.I have heard the latest CJ/Sutherland/Aesthetix/Lamm/BAT etc.All these units are superb.The potential taste variances are even greater than those of the tonearms and cartridges, IMO!As with the arm issue,you KNOW that you are not as inexperienced as your thread question implies,so you WILL make a good choice.

Lastly,once you have made a final choice,if it is a tube unit,you can squeeze even more performance from many of these phonostages,by doing a bit of tube rolling with NOS types.No matter what the mfgr claims.Sorry,but true!This I have a great deal of experience with,in quite a few differing tube driven stages,in a number of differing set-ups.Not a necessity,but a cute little upgrade path for future consideration.Good luck,even though you don't need it!