If boulder is tops what is second tier?

Well since you mentioned the ASR Basis Exclusive, I will provide some input on that particular phono preamp, and how it relates to one or two of the other phono preamps referred to by one of the others.

The ASR is the best phono preamp I have heard. It is quiet, dynamic, and musical. (Feel free to substitute P.R.A.T for musical, or whatever term you refer to as that certain something that gets your toe a'tapping!) It elevated my friend's system to a whole new level.

It clearly bested the Aesthetix Rhea. The Rhea has some really nice, user friendly features (the remote control is incredible!), but sonically, it is not in the same class, IMHO. The Rhea has quite a bit of tube noise, that with tube rolling, can be reduced, but not quite eliminated. This noise floor prevented it from really acheiving top notch status. (However, for the money, and especially if you like running more than one tonearm, and auditioning different cartridges, it is a reasonable choice.)

I have heard the Lamm LP2 as well. It is a very good phono preamp, but having its gain and loading fixed, very much limits its use, IMHO. (However, for a tube phono preamp, it is amazingly quiet, surprisingly so!) That being said, I would never buy it myself, as I prefer to have more flexibility as to which cartridges I can use.
(I preferred the ASR to the Lamm, as it was easily adjusted to match the cartridge requirements, although I feel the Lamm is better than the Rhea sonically, but only if the right cartridge is used, and there are few cartridges that are truly "right" for the Lamm.)

My two cents worth anyway.

BTW, are you actually in the market, or just opening up a topic for discussion? (I don't care either way, as I like the topic and the discussion!)

I am in the market most defenitely, and want to thank you all for chiming in.
As most of you already know, I have been beating this topic to death, but I feel that this is probably the most important part of the chain in our systems!
Not changing the subject, I just recently purchased a Graham 2.2, and can't be more pleased with the improvement of sound in my system. I can only imagine how much further I can go by upgrading the PHONO PREAMP!
I get the idea that spending more on a phono preamp in relation to other components would yield excellent results, no?
So to reiterate my initial question. Which phono preamp should I get that would be considered a top player? I would like to make this a lasting purchase.
My price range would top out at about $3k.
thank you all.

Maybe the Boulder guys can hear instead of hearing what they want to hear.

Albert…that is an interesting comment coming from Boulder’s designer. What is even more interesting to me is that Boulder is not the only high-end amplifier manufacturer who has made this comment or one similar to it in private to me or to others whom I know in this hobby. It is little wonder that there is so much controversy when it comes to cable. I don’t think there are too many of these engineers who do not acknowledge that properly designed audio cables are important in an audio system, but they are all too aware of the fact that good cable is readily available and inexpensive except in high-end audio where it has been cleverly masked behind beautiful cosmetics and very slick marketing that often generates profit margins in excess of 1000% or even 3000%. Generally speaking it seems that amplifier manufactures tend to stay out of these arguments.

There is a clear ‘carriage trade’ that has developed over the years in high-end audio and the Boulder phono preamp fills this market nicely, as do Wilson loudspeakers and numerous other products we are all familiar with. Of course the audio rags always say this is stuff is the best, especially the ones that receive huge advertising revenue from such manufactures, but as many of us have discovered it just isn’t always true. And as I think most of us know there are those who will only buy the most expensive equipment with the highest status and ‘perceived’ excellence. Many high-end manufactures take advantage of this quirk of human nature and price their product accordingly.

That said, I have no personal experience with the Boulder phono preamp. Maybe it really is excellent. But could it possibly be worth $30K, and cost anywhere near that to manufacture, or is more like that $100 pair of interconnects that retails for $3000? And by its cost alone does it earn its rank of A++? I think not on both accounts. Unfortunately it is difficult not to equate higher performance with higher cost because that is they way we have been taught (manipulated) to think.

Whatever the case, I did want to add one more phono preamp to the discussion that I believe falls into this category, even though at $3250 its price is not as extreme as some of the others mentioned. That is the Herron Audio VTPH-1 MC Plus. While Keith Herron’s preamps have garnered their fair share of rave reviews over the years, Herron does not throw a lot of money into advertising (or Rowlandesque cosmetics) and perhaps for that reason they seem to fly a bit under the radar. None-the-less the VTPH-1 is worthy of any serious analog audiophile’s consideration and will compete favorably with some of the products mentioned here.

Dear Peter: " +++++ My price range would top out at about $3k. " +++++

It is out of my sense to understand the tittle of your thread: "If boulder is tops what is second tier? ", when your budget is 3K. The very best phonolinepreamps are between 15K to 50K.

You posted: " but I feel that this is probably the most important part of the chain in our systems! " and latter: " I would like to make this a lasting purchase. "

If like you say ( I agree ) the phonolinepreamp is the most important part of the chain and you are looking for the last purchase about then you must to have a wider budget and if you don't have it a this time my advise is that you wait a little till you have a serious money for a serious phonolinepreamp.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.