Herron VTPH-2A Phono Preamp....anyone familiar?

I’ve had a brand new VTPH-2A for a few weeks now. It’s done a brilliant job in my SOTA/Stax setup, handily dispatching my Rogue Ares Magnum (filled with exotic NOS tubes); I feel that the performance gain with the Herron well exceeds its $800 MSRP price premium. Very happy with this phono stage!

I also run a rather pricey VAC Renaissance SE phono stage in my main rig. I wouldn’t have dropped that kind of coin (more then 3x the Herron) if I wasn’t completely blown away by it (I auditioned the non-SE base Renaissance in my system before purchase, a year ago). I tried the Herron in that rig, thinking perhaps it could match the VAC - but no not quite there yet; the VAC still has some extra magic. I’m going to let the Herron burn in some more, then try the VAC match-up again with some additional experimentation of SUT’s, etc. If it can match or even exceed the VAC in the end, I'd have no problem buying a 2nd unit. But I'm already exceedingly happy with the 2 setups I've got now. 

Yes I forgot to mention I listen to a range of music, but especially a lot of heavy metal! The Herron is certainly an all-genre musical instrument. And yes, A++ on dealing with Keith. Call him up if you’re in this price range for a Phono stage!

Don't overthink it.
The VTPH-2A a great phono stage, very neutral with traits of SS and tubes thanks to the JFET MC stage (I only have MC cartridges). I find I do still prefer my VAC Renaissance SE phono stage in the main system (pure tubes but must use a SUT for MC); at more than 3x the cost of a Herron it adds a dash of "romantic" tube sound but also yields all the details and layers of music, can rock too, and simply makes music have more presence and come that much more alive. That's what money buys (for my ears), and I'm happy to pay it in this case. 

Now one honest annoyance I've found with the VTPH-2A is how far the grounding lug is from the MM inputs. This has made it difficult for me to achieve an external SUT connection (bypassing the JFET stage) without hum. I haven't been able to get that setup right yet, but when I do I strongly suspect I'll prefer the fatter tone imparted by SUT's like Bob's Devices Sky or EAR MC-3 vs the JFET stage.

Definitely, the output coupling caps can choke out bass if they’re too small. And you probably need more capacitance than you’d think given the usual 1 / (2 * pi * R * C) roll-off frequency calculation. I think my older Rogue Ares could have benefited from larger output caps (they were only 0.47 uF), for example. But plenty of phono stages do use more than ample capacitance for hooking into the typical preamp (50K - 100K input impedance). I think in many cases, rolling different makes/qualities of capacitor will have a bigger sonic impact than just going to a bigger value of same make - output coupling caps are one of the most critical components for "voicing" a tube amp. Also, using a SUT vs. the JFET MC stage will significantly impact the perceived bass response, while having nothing to do with the output caps (SUTs too are a critical component with a lot of sonic variability across makes). I tend to like the thicker, more impactful sound rendered by a good SUT, but this is very cartridge-dependent.