Stand out phono stages

Very happy with my new Fosgate phono stage. Its got maybe 30 hours or so on it, not overly romantic or soft tube sound but sure not sterile either with nice body to instruments and voices, exellent timbre, excellent soundstage and imaging.But my main criteria is I ENJOY hearing MUSIC through it! The chain is TW Akustic Raven One with Ortofon 12 inch arm and Dynavector 20xl cart and Synergistic Research Tricon Analog tonearm cable, going to the Fosgate, then on to a Joule Electra LA-150 Mk2 via Purist Audio Venustas IC's, and out to the Belles 350A amp. Speakers are Unity Audio Signature 3 wired with Acoustic Zen Shotgun bi-wire cables.--Mrmitch

Fcrowder made the very good point that only a very few of us are qualified to say that this or that phono stage is "best", because most of us have a very limited listening experience with a wide variety of the "best" phono stages. This hasn't prevented subsequent posters from making absolutist claims. That's OK by me; it shows real enthusiasm and delight. And some guys have owned an impressive number of different top notch phono stages, so their opinion carries some weight, As for me, I would need to hear more different phono stages in a controlled environment before making such a claim, though I remain a devotee of the Atma-sphere MP1.

One issue for me is the question of the fundamental difference in sound (if there is such) between solid state and tube phono stages. I have yet to be blown away by a solid state phono, but I certainly have an open mind on the subject. I should, because I have not heard Connoisseur, Boulder, MBL, ASR, Pass, Essential Audio, Klyne, etc. I own a solid state Ayre P5Xe, which is very nice but a bit lacking in the ability to convey the excitement of music, as compared to the MP1. I have heard that tweaking the Ayre can boost its performance considerably. One guy I met at RMAF built an external PS for his. On the subject of Klyne, there has not been much mention of it in this thread. Is this because it seems to have been discontinued? Is Klyne still making new units or just repairing and occasionally upgrading their old ones? My new found interest in vintage phono cartridges makes me yearn for a unit with externally adjustable loading both for capacitance and resistance. I have a lot of early to mid-50s jazz LPs (including the sublime Ella and Louis recordings) that are not cut to RIAA specs, so adjustable compensation is very appealing as well. Has anyone heard the Krell (please forgive me) KPA? It sports variable bass and treble roll-off. Was also looking at Yamaha C2A and Accuphase C200X, very vintage pieces that have these features too.

I have a lot of early to mid-50s jazz LPs (including the sublime Ella and Louis recordings) that are not cut to RIAA specs, so adjustable compensation is very appealing as well.

Lately I've been using the ARC Ref Phono 2 with the MP-1. It is v quiet and lets you switch it between RIAA, Decca and Columbia curves. Definitely worth a listen if you can get a loaner.

Lewm, another machine that does what you are looking for is the AMR PH-77: 23 equalisation curves, 8 gain levels between 30dB and 72dB, 64 load options (here is the specs sheet: AMR PH-77). And it sounds heavenly.

Thanks, guys. I am sure that both the ARC and the AMR are wonderful, based on a slew of favorable comments, but they are goddawful expensive, not within my budget for a secondary phono stage. I am trying to stay at or under $2500; way under that amount would be better.