Best Phono amp under $2000.

musical surroundings nova phonomena excellent sound plenty of settings to suit your taste,,,battery charges when unit off ,you can switch to battery operation(does sound better)when listening ..

Sutherland 20/20 is a great phono pre with a great deal of flexibility to accommodate a wide range of carts. I had little experience beyond the phono card in my integrated, but the Sutherland was a very large audible upgrade for me. Integrated was / is a Luxman 505u. It has been my favorite upgrade so far.

Jmowbray, I'm curious about why you prefer the Triton over the Ares for rock? I'm leaning towards getting an Ares over a Triton because I generally like the tube sound better, but I do listen to more rock, reggae, electronic and world music with the occasional jazz record thrown in. Also, what amp are you using with them (I'm using a Rogue Cronus Magnum w/ KT 120s)?

I wish that jmowbray had answered that question. I have a Cronus Magnum 2 with a Clearaudio performance dc  turntable and my phonostages are both by Parks audio. I have the Budgie and the Puffin. Sometimes (most times) i feel as if im underserving the amp and table with budget phonostages.... but man the are really good.... i feel to balance my system out i should have an ares or an allnic h-1201 or even a manlrley Chinook and not just because of the higher price but i believe they must sound nicer even though i have no chance to listen to them.... it just makes sense why they would and the reviews back that up....i reallyvwant to stay all tube on my reference setup with the Cronus Magnum and Clearaudio table.... on my secondary setup with a rogue Sphinx 2, Technics SL-1600 & Klipsch Quartets... SS would be fine.

At that price level, I compared these:
- Allnic
- Herron
- Sutherland
- Manley Chinook

Of the four, I found the Sutherland to be least desirable.  There were a dozen of us in the listening session, and while the voting was close, the Manley was the winner.  Everyone ranked them most to least favorite.  

My personal impression was that they are all nice.  The Herron and Sutherland were a bit more forward in the mid ranges, while the Manley exhibited the smoothest overall sound.  I found it the most pleasant to listen to for the longer term of the four.  

I don't have flowery language to use, but I can tell you that I've been living with the Manley for three years, and I have no desire to change... even after the shootout.  And, you can get one under $2k lightly used.