The best phono stage out there?

How much do you want to spend? The "best" doesn't really exist.

I love my Doshi Audio Alaap with my XV-1s. The last phono stage/preamp I'll every own. Well, unless all the tubes in the world suddenly disappear. ;-)

You are going to get 6 thousand different phono amps to read about from those who chime in.

If everyone writes in and says the Sutherland PhD is the best they have heard would you keep it?

I have had the Audio Note, EAR 324, PhD, Herron, & the ASR Exclusive and they all were/are excellent sounding. Each one had a different flavor of sound that was not necessarily better than the other. I kept the ASR because of it's battery powered abilities.

My vote is for the PhD. Keep and and enjoy it to the hilt.

I guess, there is no "best" out there. One prefers Transistor, the other one a Tube amplification. For each Design there are good and average Designs available. I guess endless average ones in general.
There is no other stage in the whole System where you can win or loose so much.
Anyway, I have a highly modified Lamm LP2 with very special Transformers and lots of selected better parts than stock and this one is by far the best unit I every heard.
Pretty useless for you I'm afraid, but a 2.Hand LP2 is easy to get and hard to beat, but depends on the rest of your System to bring the best out of it.

The Aesthetix Io Signature or the Io Eclipse are two additional candidates for consideration among the top competitive phono stages.