If boulder is tops what is second tier?

While I have heard most of the top contenders several times in show settings I have not had the opportunity to listen to most of them either in my home or in a system that I know well enough to draw conclusions. In my home, I have compared the phonostage in the Crosby Spectral DMC 10Z, the Jadis outboard separate phonostage, several versions of the Vendetta Research including a SCP2T(eflon) with updated power supplies and the Curl Blowtorch with integrated phono and most recently the Einstein. In general, the Vendetta exceeded the Crosby modded Spectral and each newer version of the Vendetta was an improvement over earlier iterations with the 2Teflon being the best of the stand alone Vendetta's but the very similar phonostage in the Blowtorch being audibly better, but not earthshakingly so. The Vendetta which can often be found on the used market is very clean and fast with significant layers of detail and very good focus and staging. Think of the Vendetta as the benchmark for solid state. I recently purchased an Einstein on a friends' suggsetion. In many ways it retains the better attributes of the Vendetta but then builds on those strengths. The Einstein has better bass(tighter with more impact), more depth, more dynamics, more fully fleshed images and a warmer frequency balance that is more accurate. Undoubtedly the best which I have heard in my system. Of other units which have impressed me to date, The Aesthetics units are quite revelationary in the right system.If I had $3 to $5 to spend, I would try to audition the Einstein. For less, I woulk look for a later Vendetta.