How does Vendetta SCP phonos compare today?

Quite well, but it depends upon the version. There were two versions, A and B. Versions C and D were modifications of either, and there are a handful of SCP-2T units which are the final version. I sold my 2T a few months ago when I purchased Bob Crump's 2T, as it was a bit more tweaked than mine.

There is talk of a Vendetta Gen.II, perhaps it will happen, but it doesn't exist at the moment. Aside from satisfying a demand for Vendettas which still exists, the Gen.II may have some additional features which are under discussion, and there is a decent chance it will sound even better than the original.

Brian

I had a B version of it years ago (there was a D revision at one point before production stopped, as I know it). It was extremely quiet and very revealing; I would not call it a warm or "musical" stage by any means, and if I recall correctly, while it was a favorite of many reviewers at TAS and Sounds Like, ol' HP felt it was a little too etched or "hi-fi" for his taste at the time. I wouldn't go so far as that, but I ultimately sold it because I liked the (tubed) Jadis JP80 phono stage a little better, and I needed the money from the Vendetta to afford the JP80. At the time, I still feel that it was one of the two or three best available commercially, and I would think it still compares favorably with many of the big names out there now, particularly among solid state units. However, there have been a lot of small but significant advances in solid state components over the intervening years, so the unit could be improved on. If John Curl is updating the design (there was talk he was doing so for a Blowtorch phono stage, I believe) or able to take an older unit and update it, then you could expect it to be among the best two or three available commercially now, period, IMHO.

Very recently, within the last 4-6 issues HiFi+ magazine actually did a review of a Vendetta phono stage to see how it sounded years later and did some comparisons vs. modern phono stages, quite favorably as I remember. I don't remember the exact issue, but their website, www.hifiplus.com, has lists of all the back issues and their content. Check it out.