best phono stage under 10k

I suggest before replacing anything, you try these steps first.

https://www.psaudio.com/ps_how/how-to-find-and-fix-hum/

Keith Herron is a great guy for sure and excellent to do business with, however I sold my VTPH-2 shortly after purchasing it from Keith, it was a little quirky and not as resolving as expected. My Pass XP15 was superior, and even more so Modwright's PH-150.

Try Audio Horizons pre-amp wonderful value and great sound, also Manley Steelhead has been highly recomeded, it can also be used as a pre-amp.  Its highly flexible and has stood the test of time.

http://www.audio-horizons.com/pages/phono.html

Check out the Modwright PH 9.0. After switching to a low output cartridge I began picking up radio signal using a Manley Chinook. Swapping tubes did not help. I gave the Modwright a try and it is dead silent. Give Dan a call and he will help you out.

I second the suggestion on Whest Audio phono stages.
Built with beautiful design internally, Clarity Capacitors, full suspension on the main boards to isolate the electronics from the case, hand matched discreet components, on and on.... I am on my second phono preamp from Whest with my recent upgrade and the performance is just outstanding: amazing detail pulled from the recording, a noise free black background (you would not even know it’s on if you didn’t see the two power on LED’s for each mono section).

No comparison to the PH 10 I had before, we are talking performance which is by far in another league over the PH 10; my Whest makes the Gold Note sound like the NAD PP2e entry level phono stage I first had years ago.

For under $10K, you can pick up the new PS.40 RDT SE which is just one step down from the Titan Pro. The Titan Pro will set you back around $13K and if you can stretch the budget a bit, I’d get a Titan Pro; it’s really from what I am told (I have not heard it myself) nirvana of phono preamps. But the 40 series is going to get you something which is still cuts above other offerings out there. The Titan Pro is going to be my next upgrade when funds are available.


When I picked up my first Whest, I had three other phono stages on the shelf, all in the $1500 to $2500 range and one Clear Audio Smart V2 which is around $700.  My Whest Three Signature which is a $4K unit just blew all of these out of the water, I mean it was a huge difference in performance.  I used the Three for the summer and ordered a custom built mid level Whest, meaning around a $6K unit, and it took things up to another notch higher.  Same house sound, but the detail is just jaw dropping.  FYI, the cartridge in the system is an Ortofon A90 MC.  But I also used a vintage AT20ss MM (my Whest input was customized for 20 pf to match perfectly with the AT20ss).  So the performance is equally  as outstanding in MC as is MM.