Best Phono You've Heard Under $2200

The PS Audio has no Mono switch :(

@hifi59 

I just ordered the 9.0X . I also have a pair of Siemens E188CC/7308 gold pins coming. Curious, Did you upgrade the PC or Fuse. I don't see anything listed about fuse value or if it's even worth doing.

Thanks

I have had my Einstein Turntable's Choice XLR for years and beat out many (BAT VK-P10SE, Sonic Frontiers Phono 1 SE, ASR Phono Exclusive, etc).  It's above your budget, but RCA version which is 90% of the XLR performance could be within reach in second hand market.

Another one to consider is also German, Restek Miniria+, this one has no visibility in US but can be bought direct from German retailer.  It's way below your price range, I heard it in an ultra high end system and it was as good as Einstein or Tom Evan's best effort.  I am getting one for my second system.

If you can find it I recommend the Croft Acoustics RIAA RS!

“I just ordered the 9.0X . I also have a pair of Siemens E188CC/7308 gold pins coming. Curious, Did you upgrade the PC or Fuse. I don’t see anything listed about fuse value or if it’s even worth doing.”

I did not not change fuse, but I did change power cables that feed the PS along with the power cable that feed the phono preamp from the PS. Both made for a larger soundstage. The PS fuse is a 3A slow blo if I recall.

I also tried Siemens 6922 1960s NOS tubes in it. They are my second favorite, but the Bel/India (Philips SQ) was better overall. Something about there tonality that kept me going back to them. Amperex JAN USA 6922 were my third favorites and had the deepest, most slamming bass but are a touch in your face sounding compared to Siemens and Philips, both of which have great bass but not so in your face sounding. They also have a bit more decay that I liked. Herbies RX rings towards the upper half of the tubes also works wonders, but they don’t absolutely need them. System dependent.