What is the Phono stage you have finished with?

Hagerman Trumpet
I have one of the later iterations of the Trumpet. It has aluminum front and back panels. I took delivery of it in January of this year. Very happy. This one should last me the rest of the way.

I had used a Wright WPP100C. Eleven years with that one. I would classify the Wright as exceptional for the money. Very good, but not great. The Trumpet betters the Wright in every way I can think of.

I'd spent some quality time with a Tom Evans Microgroove-Plus. It was probably better than the Wright in terms of speed and immediacy. But there was a slight solid-state aftertaste which I could readily perceive. Odd. On the one hand, a seemingly transparent delivery which nonetheless left its notes in a very slightly white translucency. Or the mental impression of that. Probably, it was system dependent. The Wright, on the other hand, offered a tubey warmth that seemed closer to right within the context of the system and budget at the time. Oh, and the TE was a bit higher priced.

But the Hagerman Trumpet has the speed, immediacy, dynamics, transparency, details micro and macro in stark clarity. This is closer to it. And then it fit my modest budget.

-Steve

The Linn Uphorik MM/MC external phono stage is absolutely amazing and provides lots of adjustments.

Musical Fidelity kW Phono-very flexible, built like a tank, quite, clean and open sound-what's not to like-

After hearing the Zesto Andros PS 1 I would totally endorse that phono stage...totally.

Vintage SOTA The Head will handle any MC you can throw at it. You may also be interested in the other pre-preamp offerings from John Curl.