I also experienced too much noise from the rhea .I found the Cary ph302 with fixed gain(54) and shielding to be much quieter.I am using it with the benz-micro ruby 3h mc catridge.This is a very musical combo.
Rhea Noise
Anyone have experience managing/reducing noise with the Rhea Phono Stage. The noise becomes audible from the "Sweet Seat" with gain settings above 50db. This is slightly reduced when listening from the RCA out instaed of balanced. This noise would eliminate me using ultra low output moving coils. I read many posts before getting this phono stage but I don't recall reading any about noise.