best phono stage under 10k

I have said it before and I'll say it once again.  I have done a lot of research with guys who actually owned or used many phono stages including the Whest Audio phono stages.  They all said nothing came close to the Whest in performance.  Then I spent a lot of time reading the customer reviews on the Whest site (hundreds of them); if you read these from guys using all types of phono stages, they all explain how much better the Whest units are against a wide range of competitive units.
From there I studied the internal boards of the Whest and the construction used along with components and I concluded that the Whest was the best option available.  I have owned two now and I can say that they are spectacular, especially against some of the 'standard' recommendations spoken of in many of the threads.

I'd skip over most of the ones spoken of and go straight to Whest Audio in London, you will not look back at that decision.

What US dealers now offer Whest? Jay Kaufman in California was  one I know of but he has retired.

Another vote for the Herron.

Whest is currently not using any US dealers; you have to buy directly from them if you are a US resident.  I found that to be a fairly simple and seamless purchase.  James spent a lot of time with me on e mail as I wanted some special customized options made in my unit.  They accommodated my requests and it too about a week to build my phono stage with the enhancements I wanted.  From there it only took 3 days to get it shipped to me.

I found them to be extremely well organized and responsive to their customers.  I plan on having James build me a set of the Titan interconnects, one with a right angle DIN connector for my SME Series IV tonearm.