Yes, I have been told that getting the jfet gain stage to really sound right is not easy, which is why there are many bad examples out there.
I'll leave it to others to sway toward one approach or the other. I am only offering that there is more than one way to get to the music which is why there is a number of great phono stages available and they don't all use the same gain stages. There has to be an equal number of really bad ones of all designs. So, IMO there is no simple answer to the original question. As always, you have to live with/listen to any device for yourself and decide.
I'll leave it to others to sway toward one approach or the other. I am only offering that there is more than one way to get to the music which is why there is a number of great phono stages available and they don't all use the same gain stages. There has to be an equal number of really bad ones of all designs. So, IMO there is no simple answer to the original question. As always, you have to live with/listen to any device for yourself and decide.