Decware or Eastern Electric Phono Stage?

Thanks for the responses.
Davt - Did you find anything for high output cartridges that you thought was better, or just that it seemed like a waste to have the transformers and not use them, and that your best results were with the low output cartridges?

I will defintiely look into JLTI, too.

I had the EE Minimax and liked it very mych..Ended up selling ( to try something different ) and bought a JLTI Phono and actually like it better than the Minimax ( not saying its better ) ...A little more authoritative..Sounds toobey,but with more low end..About the same $$ as EE new or used........

I have not heard the Decware but had a Eastern Electric in my system for a few years and had the opportunity to compare it with quiet a few other phono stages. I loved the EE and would highly recommend it, for medium output moving coil only. It did a fine job with higher output carts such as your Maestro but the real magic of the EE is when you use the MC transformers. With the output of your cart you would not be getting the biggest benefit of the EE, from my experience. With a lower output cart, ( 0.4-0.8 ) and tube rolling you need to go way up the list to equal it.