Looking for a great phono pre-amp in the $1000 or less range

ARC = Astute Right Choice…. 

but OP has a pretty good list going…

So I got really lucky and found a Black Ice Audio Fusion F159 hybrid tube preamp on US Audiomart ($1,875 retail), within my budget.   It’ll be delivered tomorrow but it’s a  Christmas gift (from the wife to me), so I’ll not get to try her out until after Christmas!  Reviews for this are very positive.  I’ll follow up with my listening impression!. 

I just purchased the f159 also. Please post your review. 

The Sota Pyxi replaced a highly regarded tube based phono stage that I’d had for 12 years. My prior stage is very popular and the customer service was great.  I was able to sell it for over $2,500, but prefer the Pyxi by no small margin. I’d swap in my tube stage just to be sure, and it came across as soft and unfocused without the detail, resolution or low noise floor that the Pyxi has. Frequency response issues like brightness, glare or lack of midrange "thereness" simply don’t come up. It sounds like real music. Bass is accurate and tight too. It has MM and MC inputs, load and capacitance are adjustable, and it's only $300. At that price you’re not going to find many dealers who’ll recommend it, there’s just not enough margin in it for them. That may sound cynical, but if I ran a store I’d probably do the same. Cartridges - Myajima Shilabe and Ortofon Cadenza Bronze, so these observations are from listening to the MC input.

Audio by Van Alstine make a very good unit that won't break the bank but will work well with either MM or MC cartridges.