Phono Stage Recommendation $3000

rsf507,

You said, "Listened to a jc3+ and found it noisy. Didn't impress YMMV" .

I believe I have said this before, but if you heard a noisy JC3+, it or something else in the system was defective. They are not noisy.

One might think you have an interest in berating the JC3+ .

Y'all be cool,
Robert

I have a Dynavector 17D3 and found a step up transformer made a big difference with a Rogue Stealth Magnum and my new BAT phono stage. I do highly recommend the BAT. I am using an old Denon SUT so it could be better. Good luck in your hunt. 

I concur with what Liamowen posted. I purchased a Pass Labs XP-15 from Mark at Reno HIFI. Great experience. You can have an XP-15 for less than $3k and have a few hundred left over for vinyl. 

@rsf507 mentions a sterile sound. I’m using a Rogue Cronus Magnum for line and amp (tube) and it’s sounding pretty sweet. 

Note of caution, you may find yourself tweaking gain and or loading for quite some time after purchase especially with an MC. I just put a Lyra Delos on my TT and saw recommendations for 100 ohm loading. After speaking directly with someone at Pass Labs, he ran a similar setup at loading anywhere from 250-330 and he said the dynamics come alive and he couldn’t be more right. He suggested 66 gain however I have 99 dB speakers so I prefer 56 gain. 

Good luck on your search and please do revert back with any questions. 

Had the Parasound JC3, Manley Chinook and the Allnic 1201 all at the same time and in my system the 1201 Allnic was on a higher level. Had the Herron on loan for a night and really liked it but could not compare with the Allnic at the time because the owner of the Herron had it but will revisit later.

Thanks everybody for your responses. 
Looks like I will get the JC3. Seems to be the most recommended even though it does not have tubes. My front end is all SS no tube component at all.