The Herron VTPH-2A is a special phono preamp. I found nothing less than twice it's price that could compare, and to me it wasn't worth spending 10K+ to try and chase something that might be marginally better. It totally changes the diminishing returns equation.
The problem will be finding one. The rare times they do come up on the used market, they sell in a day or two max. That alone should tell you something.