Addendum. After composing that long treatise, I did some surfing to find out more about the Slagle LCR phono stage owned by my neighbor. It turns out that the phono stage is called "Emia" and is marketed by Dave and Jeffrey Jackson, in collaboration.
Here
Further, the "Kahn" Experience phono stage is also a product of this same collaboration, only it's more expensive than the Emia.
So these two would be important players in the LCR game, albeit hardly mass-market.
Here
Further, the "Kahn" Experience phono stage is also a product of this same collaboration, only it's more expensive than the Emia.
So these two would be important players in the LCR game, albeit hardly mass-market.