i tried the phonomena & was completely underwhelmed - the fono-stage built into my old linn kairn pre was far more musical, while just as detailed & transparent. it had me thinking about a used linto. while i was looking, a couple folks said the acurus p-10 was far nicer than the black cube, at a much lower price. might want to try its bigger brother, the aragon 47k, which is still only $600 retail. i ended up w/a ~$2k pentagon ps-3, which i'd never heard of, but i got such a fantastic deal (cuz no one else in the usa seems to know about it either!) - near the price of the phonomena - i figured it was worth trying. i was right - it's a great unit! :>) but, good luck finding one.
you might want to check out ted @ ted's audible difference - he seems to come across deals on demo & used fono.
http://www.highendaudio.com/demos.htm
he presently is offering great deals on art audio electronocs, & has a wellborne labs fono-stage listed for $200. i have no connection to ted, only a satisfied customer...
doug s.