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.

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.

I second the suggestion on Whest Audio phono stages.
Built with beautiful design internally, Clarity Capacitors, full suspension on the main boards to isolate the electronics from the case, hand matched discreet components, on and on.... I am on my second phono preamp from Whest with my recent upgrade and the performance is just outstanding: amazing detail pulled from the recording, a noise free black background (you would not even know it’s on if you didn’t see the two power on LED’s for each mono section).

No comparison to the PH 10 I had before, we are talking performance which is by far in another league over the PH 10; my Whest makes the Gold Note sound like the NAD PP2e entry level phono stage I first had years ago.

For under $10K, you can pick up the new PS.40 RDT SE which is just one step down from the Titan Pro. The Titan Pro will set you back around $13K and if you can stretch the budget a bit, I’d get a Titan Pro; it’s really from what I am told (I have not heard it myself) nirvana of phono preamps. But the 40 series is going to get you something which is still cuts above other offerings out there. The Titan Pro is going to be my next upgrade when funds are available.


When I picked up my first Whest, I had three other phono stages on the shelf, all in the $1500 to $2500 range and one Clear Audio Smart V2 which is around $700.  My Whest Three Signature which is a $4K unit just blew all of these out of the water, I mean it was a huge difference in performance.  I used the Three for the summer and ordered a custom built mid level Whest, meaning around a $6K unit, and it took things up to another notch higher.  Same house sound, but the detail is just jaw dropping.  FYI, the cartridge in the system is an Ortofon A90 MC.  But I also used a vintage AT20ss MM (my Whest input was customized for 20 pf to match perfectly with the AT20ss).  So the performance is equally  as outstanding in MC as is MM.