The Whest was my first foray into a stand alone phonostage. I previously used integrated amps or preamps with built in phonostages (like the ARC SP-16). So, I cannot say that I have had wide experience in this area beyond the Whest and the Herron. I liked the Whest very much and found it easy to use and reliable. I contemplated moving up the range to the RDT or even RDT SE but decided on the Herron VTPH-2. I had made several system changes that moved toward greater neutrality and wanted to preserve a touch of tube spaciousness and warmth that the Whest did not impart. (The Herron provides JUST a touch of warmth being quite neutral but did have significantly greater spaciousness and separation of instruments than the Whest). The Herron is also VERY quiet, unlike some tube phonostages--nearly as quiet as the dead silent Whest. Finally, I really felt that the pricing of the Whest units had migrated upwards to the point where I suspected they did not represent a good value for money. I say "suspected" because I was never able to actually hear the RDT or RDT SE but was simply scared off by the price compared to the Herron, which significantly outperformed the PS.30R in my system. In any case, I think you would do well to demo the Whest models and the Herron and see which you prefer. These are all fine phonostages that I suspect are at or near the top of their class.
