I'm a little late to this but wonder if any of you VTPH 2A owners can answer a question for me. Can I plug cartridges into both MM and MC inputs of my VTPH 2A at the same time and simply switch between them with the MM/MC switch on the back? I suspect @bpoletti will know the answer.
As far as the OP's question goes, I own a CAT SL-1 Renaissance and before that owned an original SL-1 for 25 years. During those years I had opportunity to compare with many other other phono stages and consider it to be one of the very best available.. That said the VTPH 2A which I use for additional turntables very closely approaches the CAT.