Herron VTPH-2A Phono Preamp....anyone familiar?

The Herron VTPH-2A is a superb phono stage, no doubt about it, but the way some owners make it out to be the Non Plus Ultra of phono stages is frankly just silly. A little sobriety and a little less fanboi talk would be seemly.

Personally I had a VTPH-2A on extended loan and auditioning a while back, and yet I ended up buying an Allnic H-1202. Is that the best phono stage in the world then? No, of course it’s not.However, barring any super deals being available to you on more elevated stuff, I’m pretty confident that the Herron and the Allnic are the two best phono stages available at relatively reasonable prices.

Are they the equals of the likes of the Manley Steelhead or the Aestetix Io? No they’re not, but they come uncomfortably close at a fraction of the price. And if you’re someone who either can’t or won’t shell out for the latter, but still want a superb phono stage based on tubes, then they’re both frankly no-brainers.

Not side by side, but I believe I can state pretty confidently that both the Herron and my Allnic are better phono stages than the PH7, which I've spend many an hour listening to at a friend's place.  I can't claim it to be unequivocal truth, given that neither our systems nor our acoustic spaces are identical, but it is what my ears tell me.

I'm afraid I've no knowledge of the H-1201 beyond the plethora of enthusiastic reviews available online.  Comparisons will no doubt be available soon, but considering how recently the H-1202 was released I wouldn't expect any just yet.
However, given what I know of Mr. Park I doubt he would release a new model unless it had real and tangible improvements.  Whether the improvements are sufficiently signifiant to warrant an upgrade is of course another matter.
As for derailing the thread: I seriously doubt that any further illumination will be offered here regarding the Herron VTPH-2.  Both its sonic excellence and immensely favourable cost/performance ratio are already established facts, whereas more people really ought to be made aware of the Allnic H1201/2 and the fact that the same very much applies to it.