Tube Phono Stage with balls, and slam!!

Second the Manley Steelhead.  I have had mine for about 7 years with no problems and definitely dynamic as all heck.  It was way superior to my previous Aesthetix Rhea.  If you want to improve on this, get some NOS 6DJ8/6922/7308 tubes for the gain and 5687/7119/6900 tubes for the white followers.  I currently run some Telefunken 6922s and Mu/Bendix 6900. There are probably some better phono stages out there but considerably more expensive.

David:  Since the sweet spot of tubes is voltage amplification, tubed phono stages/preamps that use small signal tubes for gain are probably the best bet for this application.  Yes, a SS preamp might give a little more speed and bass extension, but there are many tubed phono stages and preamps for a reason:  they are sonically superior in many ways.  You should get your music fast with good bass and plenty of slam using tubed phono stages.  For power amps, however, tubes do not work as well for current amplification due to higher output impedances and you get more mixed results.  As someone else mentioned, getting enough voltage gain overall in your system is paramount in obtaining optimal sonics, and I personally like tubed phono stages like my Manley Steelhead phono stage and my tubed Essence preamp.  I use a SS Essence power amp.  Many top phono stages such as the Steelhead use a step-up transformer for moving coil cartridge gain and 6922 or other small-signal tubes for moving magnet gain.