What should be my next phono stage after ear834

The Hagerman Trumpet with a nice step-up transformer (I use the K&K step-up which comes in kit form but Kevin Carter will build it for you for a nominal fee) will be hard to beat if you're set on tubes. It is well within your price range at $2k and has a 30 day trial period. What have you got to lose?

David12 is correct that the Whest is a great value and in reviews has been compared favorably to the Boulder phono stage. It is solid state but exhibits a tube like quality and comes with excellent interconnects that elicit a lot of detail from the music. If you think you would like to go solid state on the phono stage email me if you're interested in the Whest. I own one and will be parting with it to finance the purchase of a solid state amp.

FWIW - I passed on the BAT and Rhea. I asked Mick at Supratek if he could carve out the phono stage from the Syrah but it was not possible. I'm told the one in the Syrah is excellent, but it is a full preamp which was overkill for me.

You should definitely check out the new Artemis Phono stage. This sells for around your price new and is a truely amazing design. This is a component that you will notice after the first few notes are played, It has a very captivating musical sound. It is very open with excellent bass and has good bloom in my system.

If you have settled on tubes, I don't think you will welcome going back to SS, of the ones you list, the WHest seems the best value to me. I agree with Art, the EAR is great value, but can be transformed by modding it.
I am in the situation of having a good SS unit, a Clearaudio reference and am looking to go "tube" to match my 845 SET amp. I looked around and searched the Asylum and Audiogon and am going for a K&K Audio phono stage kit. I am sure I can't build it, but I will get someone else to clear up the mess after I've tried. At $1500, its great value and with the inbuilt step up, can be boosted to 64DB gain. many great tube units don't have quite enough gain i.e Conrad Johnson Prem 15, for lower output MC cartridges

I can't speak to most of the brands you cite, but I can tell you that modding the 834p and tube rolling can transform that piece. I owned a stock one and loved it, but I was able to compare it to a modded one. That mod gave it more liquidity, life and richness. I don't know who did this mod alas (bought it used). I've heard great things about Mitch Singerman's mod.
Art