Best affordable phono preamp?

by the way, that's vacuum state, not stage.

With a budget of $5k, there are very few phono stages out of your reach, assuming that you buy used. My suggestion is to wait for a Manley Steelhead to come up for sale here on Audiogon. It's a truly oustanding phono stage with the flexibility to pair with literally any cartridge on the market. And IMO it's hard to beat the performance of the Steelhead.

K&K phono stage, Kevin Carter's take on the Art Audio Vinyl reference he designed. Its a Jfet/tube Hybrid with step up transformers. I have'nt heard beter in my system, $1500 as a kit $1950 built and tested.

David12, what other phono preamps have you heard in your system?

Blake,
Are you referring to the Wright Sound or Wright Audio phono pre? I’ve read several positive comments from various sources, but I’m never sure which company is being referenced.