Herron VTPH-2A vs Rogers PA-2 Phono Preamplifier

It's not that the Herron's tubes are so "high quality"; in fact they are among the cheapest you can buy on the market.  Keith did make sure that the batch of these cheap tubes that he uses are quiet.  The Herron is voiced for the EH tubes - by design.  Keith designed the pre so that you can easily replace with other cheap EH tubes when the need arises - a smart design.  However, if you don't like the "voice" you should look to another phono pre.  Other phono preamps can produce different sonics when you roll the tubes - whether they are better is debatable and a matter of personal taste.

The Herron has two two gain sections - the FET front-end used only by the MC circuits, and tubed gain stages used by both the MC and MM sections.  You are not just listening to a FET through the MC stage but in my experience MC carts sound best using a quality SUT through the MM stage on the Herron.

@kennyc

If your main goal is to find a phono stage that’s easier to tube roll you may want look at the Tavish Design products.  Herron would be the last phono I'd buy with the intention of rolling tubes.

I have the Herron and cannot see anything the least bit hard about tube rolling.

That's missing the message about the Herron.  What's hard is IMPROVING the sound of the Herron via tube rolling.  

Relax MC....I’m underscoring the futility of trying to roll tubes in the Herron...the statement below is hardly an attack. We are actually substantially agreeing about this product.

That’s missing the message about the Herron. What’s hard is IMPROVING the sound of the Herron via tube rolling.