I have a ph-3. I don't find it to be bright in any way. In fact I find it to add warmth and smoothness to the system. You might try a pass labs aleph preamp or experiment with cabling. I used to have that combination with the ph-3 and it was quite nice. You might also try to re-configure the phono stage - are you hearing cartridge overload ? You can solder in some resistors that came with the ph-3 to alter the loading. Another alternative to cartridge loading is to try a different input on your preamp. Some preamps will have less sensitive inputs to accomodate high output sources. The ARC ref1 is an example of this. For solid state, one of my friends a/b compared my ph-3 to a Klyne 3.5 (?). He said the klyne was much better (he's a spectral owner, so you know his tastes!).
I am currently using the ph-3 with a BAT vk-5i & vt100. It's a WONDERFUL combination for me. I have a feeling the vk-5i might cloud up your systems ultra-pure sonics. That's is what I found when I ran all pass labs/audio physic. My pass labs aleph 2's were consistently better suited to an ultra-quiet solid state preamp (adcom 750 or pass labs p) than to a tube preamp (audible illusions, bat vk30). The tube preamps just seemed to take away that 'wire with gain' quality of the alephs and did not add much tube-wonder soundstage. Email me if you are selling your ph-3 SE !
I am currently using the ph-3 with a BAT vk-5i & vt100. It's a WONDERFUL combination for me. I have a feeling the vk-5i might cloud up your systems ultra-pure sonics. That's is what I found when I ran all pass labs/audio physic. My pass labs aleph 2's were consistently better suited to an ultra-quiet solid state preamp (adcom 750 or pass labs p) than to a tube preamp (audible illusions, bat vk30). The tube preamps just seemed to take away that 'wire with gain' quality of the alephs and did not add much tube-wonder soundstage. Email me if you are selling your ph-3 SE !